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HISTORY OF 

ALPHA XI DELTA 
FRATERNITY 

(1893-1923) 


By 

HELEN WILLIS LYNN 

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GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING CO. 
MENASHA, WIS. 





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Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

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HISTORY OF THE ALPHA XI DELTA 
FRATERNITY 


“For what does Alpha Xi Delta 
standf Briefly this: for sincere de¬ 
velopment of character, for high 
standard of scholarship, for whole¬ 
hearted interest in college affairs, 
for right living in our chapter- 
houses that health, peace and 
harmony may prevail, and for 
wholesome social life above re¬ 
proach or criticism.” 

Anna Miller Knote. 

Inspector’s Report — 1918. 



PREFACE 


T HE publication of a fraternity history, like every 
other fraternal undertaking, is dependent for its 
success upon the co-operation of many people. The 
help given me by the associate editors, Esther Dunning, 
Upsilon, Fern Falloon, Pi, and Margaret Ferris, Theta, 
has been most valuable. 

They join with me in thanking the chapter secretaries, 
both college and alumnae, and the many members who 
have answered our inquiries and aided us in securing 
accurate and interesting information. 

In addition to receiving kindly help from each of our 
founders, I am deeply indebted to Cora Bollinger-Block, 
Alpha, and to Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta, for the reading 
of manuscript and the many helpful suggestions each 
offered. 

I wish to acknowledge also my debt to the Charles H. 
Elliot Company of Philadelphia for the heraldic descrip¬ 
tion of the coat-of-arms. My thanks are due to Anna 
Gillis-Kimble, Alpha; Lela Pape-Caris, Beta; Dorothy 
Peck, Gamma; Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta; Mary Rayne, 
Theta; Calla Andrus, Theta; Lulu Runge, Theta; Myrtle 
Coker-Combe, Kappa; Myrtle Jones-Stevens, Mu; Anna 
Wallis, Xi; M. Olive Johnson, Omicron; Eileen Kengla, 
Omicron; Key Wenrick, Pi; Mary Kinnavey, Sigma; 
Ethelyn Yount-Weida, Sigma; and Flora Olnhausen, Psi. 

Helen Willis Lynn. 

Chicago, Illinois. 

July 1, 1923. 



INTRODUCTION 


T O THOSE of us who have once stood within the 
charmed circle of white-robed girlhood, touched 
with a mystic beauty by flickering candle-light and 
fragrant with roses, as we waited with tremulous hearts 
for the words which would make us sisters in that fair 
company, Alpha Xi Delta has a deep significance. In all 
the experiences life may hold for us, never again can we 
be more deeply stirred than by that first electric thrill of 
sisterhood. And we know in our hearts that magic circle 
can never be broken—though some are scattered to the 
ends of the earth and some have gone across the great 
divide. Age, occupation, distance and environment have 
no influence on our friendships in the fraternity. In the 
problems of maturity we may forget for a time, but when 
we come face to face with one who has stood with us in 
that dear company, the flame that has burned low leaps 
up into new life and vigor and we know once more the 
youth that is eternal. By its magic charm our troubles 
are dispelled. We are young things again in a young, 
young world where great adventures lie waiting and a 
college fraternity is of the highest importance. 

For Alpha Xi Delta is the spirit of youth incarnate. 
It is woven of that bright stuff we call the dreams of 
youth. It is rich in that unselfishness of youth which 
dares great things wholeheartedly. It is impetuous 
youth, glowing and keen for love and joy and high en¬ 
deavor. It is ingenuous youth that always hopes and 
never despairs. It is youth that sees the thought in the 
heart of the rose—and forgets the thorns. Let those who 
have never known the joys and sorrows of a college fra¬ 
ternity decry the trite maxims of our happy clan or rid¬ 
icule its lofty ritual. Youth must have the ways of youth 
and of that drab common-sense which age and experience 
bring it has no need. 


When we think of the sincere and lasting friendships 
that have sprung from even one college chapter, and then 
multiply by hundreds, we begin to realize the full power 
of Alpha Xi Delta. How many timid sisters have been 
sustained and encouraged by that love and affection, how 
many self-centered girls have been taught to think for 
others, and how many gifted ones have been urged for¬ 
ward to greater endeavor by the admiration of their 
little, intimate group. How many a great sorrow has 
grown less in their sweet sympathy, and how many of 
those lesser griefs, which sometimes loom too large, have 
been dispelled by their friendly laughter. Indeed it is 
a pleasant thought that for so many years for hundreds 
of eager young girls the world has been a happier and 
more wholesome place because of Alpha Xi Delta. 

Our fraternity has never lacked for loyal and enthu¬ 
siastic members, but far too few of them have known how 
much there is in the history of Alpha Xi Delta to justify 
their love and pride. Their knowledge has too often been 
bounded by the local chapter and the* organization as a 
whole has been quite unknown to them. It is this need 
which the present volume, compiled with so much loving 
thought and care, hopes to serve. Through the pages of 
this history even the youngest of our sisters can come to 
know the aspirations of the founders and the high hopes 
of all those who have worked so unselfishly to develop the 
large and efficient organization of to-day. She will learn 
the personalities of the various chapters as each in its 
environment has developed an atmosphere and a spirit 
of its own. And she will learn that beyond the magic 
circle of her own small group is that far wider circle— 
reaching indeed to the ends of the earth—of all those 
hundreds of earnest young women who have become 
members of Alpha Xi Delta since the day of its beginning. 
And knowing the achievements of her fraternity in the 
past she can set forward with the happy eagerness of 
youth to build its structure for the future. 

For the story of Alpha Xi Delta is but begun. Like 
youth itself it must be ever growing and ever striving 
with all its heart to express its vague young dreams. 


May we never frown upon these ardent sisters of to-day 
—this day is theirs and our fraternity is theirs to do with 
as they will—for thus they, too, will have their part in 
weaving this glowing fabric of our dreams and will make 
it their heritage to the young lives of to-morrow. 

Mary Meek Atkeson, Iota. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter p a ge 

Preface . y 

Introduction.VII 

I. The Founding of. Alpha Xi Delta. 1 

II. Our Founders. 6 

III. Early Days. 27 

IV. The College Chapters. 34 

V. Chapter-House Ownership. 146 

VI. The Alumnae Chapters. 168 

VII. Insignia and Heraldry. 194 

VIII. Organization and Government. 200 

IX. National Conventions. 208 

X. The National Panhellenic Congress. 253 

XI. Fraternity Examinations. 267 

XII. The Alpha Xi Delta, Directory and The Quill 271 

XIII. The Song Book. 282 

XIV. The History. 286 

XV. National Scholarship Fund. 290 

XVI. The Honor Ring. 293 

XVII. Alpha Xi Delta European Trip. 303 

XVIII. Alpha Xi Delta in the World War. 309 

XIX. National Customs. 335 

XX. The Gifts of Alpha Xi Delta. 339 

XXI. National Officers. 344 

XXII. Interesting Alumnae. 368 
































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Top row, left to right: Frances Cheney, Eliza Curtis-Everton, Alice Bartlett-Bruner, Louie Strong-Taylor, Harriet 
Luella McCollum. 

Lower row: Maude Foster, Bertha Cook-Evans, Lucy Gilmer, Cora Bollinger-Block, Almira Cheney. 






























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CHAPTER I 


THE FOUNDING OF ALPHA XI DELTA 

L OMBARD COLLEGE is the realization of the de¬ 
sire of a few men that their sons and daughters 
might have a liberal education and be surrounded 
by the influence of the Universalist faith while they were 
securing it. Such plans were first made in 1850, but it 
was not until 1852 that the Illinois Liberal Institute, in 
Galesburg, Illinois, first opened its doors—receiving 
sixty students. For three years the Institute prospered 
and then fire swept the buildings, burning them to the 
ground. Dr. P. R. Kendall, who had served as president 
of the Institute since its opening, saw in the ruins the 
hope of a college. The gift of twenty thousand dollars 
and the site of the present campus, received from Ben¬ 
jamin Lombard, made possible the realization of that 
hope. When the institution.again opened it was under 
the name of Lombard University, in recognition of the 
generosity which had made possible its enlarged field of 
service. Many years later a second change was made in 
its name, the word college replacing university. 

From the beginning of its existence Lombard Uni¬ 
versity was coeducational, offering its opportunities to 
women as well as to men. In 1873 I. C. Sorosis, later Pi 
Beta Phi, was permitted to install a chapter of its or¬ 
ganization and the fraternity system entered Lombard 
University. Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Nu also in¬ 
stalled chapters, but for twenty years Pi Beta Phi re¬ 
mained the only women’s fraternity in this field. 

The adaption of the fraternity system to the needs of 
women students came almost immediately after the gen¬ 
eral admittance of women students into the colleges and 
universities of the country. Admitted and tolerated, 


2 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


their presence was scarcely welcome and no provision 
was made in the college routine for their social life. Out 
of real necessity these first women students organized 
themselves into various groups, each of which supplied 
to its own members the great encouragement of sympa¬ 
thetic^ interested friendships and relieved their lives of 
depressing lonesomeness. The united strength of the or¬ 
ganizations made possible what their members could 
never have accomplished individually—the readjustment 
of the social side of college life until women students held 
an accepted and recognized place in it. 

Born as the fraternities were, in response to the need 
of their individual members and having all they could 
do in the early years of their existence to supply those 
needs, a self-centered attitude unconsciously became tra¬ 
ditional with many chapters. After a time the early 
needs which they had so splendidly served ceased to exist 
because of the friendlier attitude toward women students 
on the part of the college communities. The fraternities, 
seeming not to realize this change and oblivious of the 
rest of the student group, continued to provide for their 
members alone a pleasant social life and the background 
of a home during their college years. Thus the nonfra¬ 
ternity students were unintentionally made to feel en¬ 
tirely shut off from much that was pleasant in college 
life. 

Harriet Luella McCollum first became a student at 
Lombard University in 1891-93. In observing and an¬ 
alyzing the life about her she became particularly inter¬ 
ested in the problems connected with fraternity existence. 
There came to her then that vision which, laboring in the 
hearts of fraternity leaders, has since revealed itself so 
clearly through the National Panhellenic Congress. 

Her vision was of a fraternity which should give to 
its members enduring love and friendship, a strong im¬ 
pulse toward the leading of nobler lives and beyond this, 
be an active influence in the college world, making con¬ 
ditions pleasanter for all students and bringing an added 


The Founding of Alpha Xi Delta 


3 


benefit into the lives of all whom its influence reached, 
members and non-members, alike. 

At length she confided to several friends her desire 
that they found a fraternity which should attempt to 
realize this ideal. Early in March, 1893, a meeting was 
held to consider its practical possibilities. This meeting, 
like so many which followed it, was held at 629 Day 
Street, where Harriet McCollum and Cora Bollinger- 
Block shared a suite of rooms. Their living-room very 
conveniently served as a fraternity hall. With the two 
hostesses met Lucy Gilmer, Eliza Curtis-Everton and 
Frances and Almira Cheney. Harriet McCollum was 
elected temporary chairman. The decision reached at this 
meeting was that an attempt should be made to bring into 
being a fraternal organization which would not only bene¬ 
fit its members, but would allow them to use their united 
strength to give an added pleasantness to the student life 
of their college. 

Bertha Cook-Evans, Julia Maude Foster, Louie 
Strong-Taylor and Alice Bartlett-Bruner were added to 
their number. 

Desirous that their purpose should not be learned un¬ 
til their organization was sufficiently perfected to be 
running smoothly, these girls entered upon a life of se¬ 
cret meetings, held behind drawn shades, usually at 629 
Day Street, occasionally with Eliza and Bertha at 413 
Day Street or with Maude at 523 North Cherry Street 
a particularly secure place far away from curious stu¬ 
dent passersby. In order to make assurance doubly sure, 
no more than two of the girls were ever seen publicly 
together and greetings once friendly took on an artificial 
coldness. 

A committee of which Cora Bollinger-Block was 
chairman waited upon Professor John C. Lee, then acting 
president of the college. They laid their plans before 
liim, receiving approval and the encouraging assurance 
that the faculty would regard a second women’s frater¬ 
nity as a decided acquisition for the student body. 


4 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


Other committees were at once appointed. Julia 
Maude Foster and Louie Strong-Taylor drafted the first 
constitution. Bertha Cook-Evans and Alice Bartlett- 
Bruner drew up its by-laws. Cora Bollinger-Block and 
Lucy Gilmer proposed the choice of the rose as Alpha 
Xi Deltas flower. Frances Cheney was chairman of the 
committee which wrote our yell. Much of the work was 
not formally adopted by the fraternity until late in April 
and in May, 1893 and it was not until May 4, 1894, that 
the sapphire was adopted as the official jewel. Yet with¬ 
in one month their plans were well under way. Alpha Xi 
Delta had been chosen as their name, the badge had been 
adopted, a service written and whistle and songs com¬ 
posed. 

Richard Brown, a leader among the unorganized stu¬ 
dents, was admitted to the plan and was eagerly encour¬ 
aging. Alpha Xi Delta is forever indebted for the 
helpful suggestions received from Jasper Everton, C. W. 
E. Gossow, James Alvin Clark, Ben Downs, Robert Hig¬ 
gins and Joseph Crum, all members of Sigma Nu. 

The necessary preliminaries being arranged, the first 
election was held; the officers chosen being: president, 
Cora Bollinger-Block; vice-president, Lucy Gilmer; sec¬ 
retary, Almira Cheney; treasurer, Louie Strong-Taylor; 
chaplain, Frances Cheney; historian, Harriet McCollum; 
marshal, Bertha Cook-Evans. 

The question then arose as to how to announce their 
existence to their fellow students. April 17, 1893, was 
finally fixed upon as the day on which they would attend 
chapel in a body, each wearing badge, colors and flower. 
They met a few minutes before chapel time in the room of 
the Zetecalian Literary Society in order to pin on badge 
and colors and the lovely, long stemmed roses which had 
been carefully smuggled in in their florist box. 

With flushed cheeks and rapidly beating hearts the 
girls entered chapel a moment or two behind the student 
body, quietly taking seats together near the back of the 
room. A moment of surprised silence followed their 


The Founding of Alpha Xi Delta 


5 


entrance, showing how well their secret had been kept. 
Then cheers and applause broke from the greater number 
of the students in welcome to the new Greek organization 
which was composed of their friends and trusted com¬ 
rades. 


CHAPTER II 


OUR FOUNDERS 


HARRIET LUELLA McCOLLUM 



ARRIET LUELLA McCOLLUM was born near 
Redfield, Kansas, on May 25, 1874. Seventeen 
years were spent quietly on a farm and varied 
not at all from the 
usual regime of country 
life. In the fall of 1891 
she entered the pre¬ 
paratory department of 
Lombard College and 
in 1892-93 was ranked 
as a freshman. It was 
during the spring of 
that year that the idea 
of founding Alpha Xi 
Delta was conceived and 
so successfully carried 
out. With the close of 
her sophomore year 
her college work was 
abruptly ended by a 
prolonged and serious 
illness. 

In the summer of 1897 she was married to the Rev. C. 
W. E. Gossow, one of the Sigma Nus who had been helpful 
at the time of the organization of Alpha Xi Delta and who 
had composed the words of one or two of the fraternity 
songs. He was then pastor of the Universalist Church at 
Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 

On July 1,1898, a daughter, the second Alpha Xi Delta 


Harriet Luella McCollum, 1893 






Our Founders 


7 


baby, was born. She was named in honor of the frater¬ 
nity, Marion Alpha. On July 4, 1901, a brother, Edward 
McCollum Gossow, was born. For a number of years 
Harriet McCollum led 
the traditional life of 
every minister’s wife. 

Her days were occupied 
with the care of her chil¬ 
dren, in housekeeping, 
in church work and in 
adding heart-comfort to 
the lives of her hus¬ 
band’s parishioners. 

As her children grew 
older and she was re¬ 
leased in part from the 
unceasing routine which 
their care had demand¬ 
ed of her during the first 
years, she established a 
modiste shop. The 
handling of assistants 
and work women as well as the contact with numerous 
types of customers soon gave her an insight into the 
value of practical psychology. 

An exhaustive study of the new science convinced her 
that through it might be removed most of the unhappiness 
caused by the ill-adaption of people to their environment. 
The intimate knowledge of many lives which had come to 
her as a minister’s wife left no doubt of this need. 

. Determined to share with others the benefits derived 
from the knowledge of psychological laws and their work¬ 
ing, Harriet Luella McCollum began her now famous 
psychological career in 1913. Both because she is a 
feminist and because she wished to honor her brother, 
Dr. E. V. McCollum of Johns Hopkins University, she 
has gained fame under her own name. Mrs. McCollum 







8 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


has lectured in most of the larger cities of the United 
States and Canada, through her revealing talks bestowing 
upon others the knowledge which is so badly needed. 

The great achievement of her maturity does not dim 
in her mind the achievement of her youth. Her love and 
pride in Alpha Xi Delta is as keen as when she first wore 
its badge. While in Boston and San Francisco, Mrs. 
McCollum had members of Lambda and Omicron Chap¬ 
ters as guests at her lectures and proudly spoke of them 
as her ‘ * daughters.’ ’ 

Mrs. McCollum continued her psychological work in 
the form of Campaigns until 1923, when she made a 
definite shift in the manner of her work for the uplifting 
of the race. In the beginning of that year she began a 
work which she plans to pursue to its finish—lecturing all 
over the United States for the abolition of capital punish¬ 
ment. - She presents the subject from the viewpoint of the 
psychological cause and nature of crime. She attempts 
to solve the economic problem along with the crime prob¬ 
lem, for she is convinced that they are largely the same. 

CORA BOLLINGER-BLOCK 

The life of Cora Bollinger-Block has been in many 
ways typical of the time in which she lives. Through 
aiding in the founding of Alpha Xi Delta she has left the 
impress of her personality permanently upon the college 
she attended. She has reared a family of three splendid 
sons, and has contributed largely to the life of the com¬ 
munity in which she lives through the work of the clubs 
to which she belongs. Attempting much she has achieved 
much. 

Cora Josephine Bollinger was born in Canton, Illinois, 
in 1868. Her mother, Emily Wills-Bollinger, was a 
graduate of Lombard College and had taught school 
through the years of the Civil War. She gave to her 
children an heritage of American tradition extending 
back to the days when the Colonial Wars were being 


Our Founders 


9 


fought and their an¬ 
cestors were engaged in 
the struggle to beat off 
the red men and claim 
the country for civiliza¬ 
tion and themselves. 

Cora’s father, Albert 
Lester Bollinger, of 
Pennsylvania German 
parents, was the cabinet 
maker ajid carriage 
builder of Geneseo, Illi¬ 
nois, for many years. 

In 1873 he moved his 
family to Davenport, 
Iowa, where he entered 
the Seig & William Iron 
Heavy Hardware Co. 
At his death, in 1901, 



Cora Bollinger Block, 1923 



¥ 


Cora Bollinger Block, 1893 

he was president of the 
Seig Iron Co. 

Cora Bollinger grad¬ 
uated from the Latin 
Course of the Daven¬ 
port High School in 
1887. She was unable 
to go to college immed¬ 
iately and when she did 
so in 1891, she chose her 
mother’s alma mater, 
Lombard College. 

In her junior year 
she joined the group 
which founded Alpha 
Xi Delta, her sitting- 
room serving as their 
meeting place. She was 


10 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


elected as the fraternity’s first president, bearing much 
of the responsibility during the difficult period of organi¬ 
zation. Her interest in Alpha Xi Delta did not lessen 
with the passing years and in 1902 she was chosen as its 
first national president. 

The first grand committee met in her home in Daven¬ 
port, July 12, 1902, where for several days it was busy 
planning the details of nationalization and rewriting the 
initiation service. Mrs. Block presided at the installation 
of Beta and Gamma Chapters and at the First National 
Convention. She then retired from active direction of 
the fraternity, feeling that it was well launched upon a 
successful growth. 

In June, 1893, Cora Bollinger married Louis Block, an 
attorney of Davenport, Iowa. Mr. Block had been a 
charter member and the first commander of the Sigma 
Nu Chapter in Iowa University, Iowa City, Iowa. Three 
sons, Albert F., Lawrence A., and Robert. L., were born 
to them. 

For some years Mr. Block followed his profession 
alone. In 1911, however, he entered into a partnership 
with his brother-in-law, James W. Bollinger, who had 
served thirteen years as judge on the District bench. 
The oldest of their sons came into the firm in 1917 and the 
youngest graduates in law at Iowa University in June, 
1924. The second son, Lawrence A., is at present, 1923, 
following a fellowship in surgery with the Mayo Brothers 
of Rochester, Minnesota. 

With the entrance of the United States into the World 
War each individual of the family prepared to do what 
he might. Mr. Block was head of the secret service de¬ 
partment at Davenport, a fact of which his family and 
friends knew nothing until the war was over. Mrs. Block 
worked untiringly with her various clubs. Each of the 
three sons enlisted with the arms of his country. 

The Order of the Eastern Star claimed Mrs. Block as 
an active member for many years. She joined it in 
1904, her interest being aroused by the love her husband 


Our Founders 


11 


gave to the Masonic Order. Mr. Block is an honorary 
thirty-third degree Mason and a Past Grand Master of 
Iowa. 

Since childhood Cora Bollinger-Block has been an in¬ 
terested member of the Unitarian Society. For two 
years she served as secretary of the Davenport Women’s 
Club. During that time she wrote an account of the war 
activities of this club which was published by the Scott 
County Council of National Defense. During the past 
two years she has been president of Davenport’s Science, 
Literature and Art Club, a member of the National Fed¬ 
eration of Women’s Clubs. 

She has spent her life in maintaining a home so homey 
that her family preferred to remain in it rather than to 
go elsewhere. She believes happiness to be the greatest 
thing in the world, not a lack of trouble but well con¬ 
tended victory. Her message to Alpha Xi Delta is given 
in the words of Charles Kingsley.' 

Thank God every morning you get up that you have something to do 
which must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and 
forced to do your best will breed in you temperance, self-control, diligence, 
strength of will, content and a hundred other virtues which the idle will 
never know. 

ELIZA CURTIS-EVERTON 

Eliza M. Drake was born at Avon, Illinois, on August 
14, 1867. Here she attended the public schools, graduat¬ 
ing from high school in 1885. On December 23, 1886, 
she was married to Charles B. Curtis, who lived to enjoy 
their wedded life but a few months. 

It was not until three years later that Eliza Curtis 
knew beyond doubt the goal toward which she wished to 
direct her life work and entered the Divinity School of 
Lombard College as the first step toward its realization. 

The desire to give permanent form to friendships 
actuated by high ideals and to the pleasures of com¬ 
panionship which a fraternity yields, led her to be one of 
the leaders in the founding of Alpha Xi Delta. She 
served as its second president in the fall of 1893, when 


12 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 



Eliza Curtis Everton, 1893 


and Mrs. Everton first 
lived in Hoopeston, Illi¬ 
nois, where she assisted 
her husband in his 
church work. Later they 
went to Clinton, N. C. 
Of their work there, 
Mrs. Everton says: 

As to my work in North 
Carolina, I hardly know how 
to characterize it. I am often 
asked about our work among 
the 11 poor whites ’ ’ and the 
negroes. 

As a matter of fact, we had 
very little to do with either one, 
and came no more into contact 
with them in our southern work 
than we do in the ordinary 
parish work in the north. 


for the first time the 
question of rushing and 
pledging was faced and 
the work of the year 
was to he begun. 

In 1894 she received 
her degree of Bachelor 
of Divinity and at once 
accepted a call to the 
pastorate of the Uni- 
versalist Church in 
Manchester, Iowa. Here 
she remained, working 
among people whom she 
loved, until her mar¬ 
riage to Rev. J. L. Ever¬ 
ton, a graduate of Lom¬ 
bard College in the same 
class as herself. Rev. 



Eliza Curtis Everton, about 1916 


Our Founders 


13 


Our churches in North Carolina are made up of the same classes of 
people as they are in the north, the only difference, so far as I can tell, is 
the natural difference of manner and customs and location. 

Our work was simply to carry the message into new fields and to try to 
instill in our people the responsibility of a life in harmony with the prin¬ 
ciple of a universal brotherhood. 

Mrs. Everton lias always been greatly interested in the 
missionary work of the Universalist Church. For five 
years she served as president of the Women’s Missionary 
Association of North Carolina. During the last year of 
this service, 1921, the Evertons accepted a call to the 
pastorate in Victor, New York, and Mrs. Everton was 
forced to resign the office. So well known and efficient 
was her work that within a month after her resignation 
she was appointed superintendent of the missionary 
work of her church over the entire southern field. 

Immediately after the entrance of the United States 
into the World War, Mrs. Everton assisted in the organi¬ 
zation of the Sampson County, N. C., Chapter of the 
American Red Cross. She accepted the secretaryship 
and performed the multiple and difficult duties of that 
office not only in war time but with as unflagging loyalty 
in time of peace. That responsibility was yielded to 
another only when their removal compelled it. 

The work of the Federated Women’s Clubs, which has 
included so many of the capable women in. our country, 
drew Mrs. Everton into its service. The presidency of 
the Clinton Women’s Club was another resignation made 
as a result of the decision to go to New York. In reality 
it was but a transferral of membership for Mrs. Everton 
belongs to the Women’s Club of Victor and serves at 
present, 1923, on the committee of the department of 
Literature and Dramatic Art. 

Hers is a sincere and vibrant personality, reacting to 
the broader movements of her time and contributing to 
them of her time and strength and capability. 


14 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


LUCY GILMER 

While the name of Lucy Gilmer is one familiar to 
every Alpha Xi Delta, she herself is but a vaguely known 
personality. So often has the fraternity lost knowledge 

of her since the time 
when she aided in its 
founding and served as 
its first vice-president. 
Julia Maude Foster re¬ 
members her as “a 
quiet, reserved and 
most ladv-like girl. ’’ 
During the time she 
spent at Lombard Col¬ 
lege the record she made 
was that of an indefatig¬ 
able student; one whose 
love of the work binds 
her to it until it is fin¬ 
ished. 

After leaving Lom¬ 
bard in 1893, Miss Gil¬ 
mer received training 
as a professional nurse. 
At one time she planned to turn to teaching, graduating 
from the Illinois State Normal College in 1903. How¬ 
ever, nursing was the work which finally claimed her 

service. Her love of her country and her desire to know 
it well, coupled with a profession which made the change 
from place to place an easy matter, has taken her a 
leisurely pilgrimage through the years, from city to city 
and from state to state. 

FRANCES CHENEY 

Frances Cheney, horn July 29, 1869, at Saybrook, 
McLean County, Illinois, was the eldest of nine children. 
Of the happy home life in which she played so dominant a 
part her sister, Almira, gives a vivid picture. 





..aaa i 

Lucy W. Gilmer, 1893 


Our Founders 


15 


Frances was the eldest and the moving spirit in everything. She was 
a lover of Dickens and organized us into a Pickwick Club when I was 
about twelve years old. Frances was Samuel Pickwick and chief editor of 
the weekly paper to which we all must contribute something or be fined. 
A cousin and two neighbor girls were members and on club night Pick¬ 
wick, Snodgrass, Tupman, Winkle, Sairey Gamp, Jenney Wren and Wilkins 
Micawber foregathered and merriment ensued. 

Another thing Frances did that brought untold joy to us children was 
her story telling. She was a fine story teller and never wearied in amusing 
us. When she was sixteen and seventeen she used to go to bed immediately 
after supper with us and let each one choose what story she would tell. 
She told one for each of us. If we waked in the night and were frightened 
she told stories till we went to sleep. 

Beside all this mothering she early felt she must help with the economic 
burdens, doing various things to earn money, the first of which was, I 
believe, working in a printing office at fifteen. 

All holidays and our birthdays were always celebrated. Frances made 
a point of being home on her birthday, July 29, and never spent a birthday 
away from home. In 1895 I remember that she could not start home until 
the morning of the twenty-ninth. It took all day to reach Saybrook but 
the birthday feast with her favorite chicken pie and lemon pie was waiting 
when the train arrived at seven o’clock. She did not eat cake, so we did 
not have a birthday cake for her. 

We learned Universalism and Americanism from my mother so early 
that I do not remember when. I should also include my father in the teach¬ 
ing of Americanism for he was a true American, one who wanted all to be 
on an equal basis in this country. Everybody at our house was an en¬ 
thusiastic believer in suffrage for women. 

In her religious life, Frances Cheney was an earnest 
advocate of the doctrine of the eternal brotherhood of 
the human race and believed in the final salvation of all 
souls. Her conception of life in other respects was equal¬ 
ly broad. She believed that women should choose for 
their activity the field to which they were best suited. 
She, herself, decided upon entering the Ryder Divinity 
School of Lombard College in the fall of 1890. 

Shortly before the time for her entrance, she received 
a fall which delayed her for a year and made the rest of 
her life one of unusual bodily suffering. Often, for days 
together, unable to keep up with her class work because 
of physical pain, she yet refused to be discouraged. In 


16 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

the intervals of lessened suffering she was able to accom¬ 
plish all that was required of her as a student. 

Her influence was a potent one in the formative days 

of Alpha Xi Delta. The 
personality which had 
given so much of love 
and happiness to the 
eight younger brothers 
and sisters, proved it¬ 
self the medium through 
which the distinct ele¬ 
ments of the original 
chapter combined into 
a harmonious whole. 
Frances Cheney was 
Alpha Xi Delta’s first 
chaplain. Her serene 
and Christ-like faith in¬ 
terpreted and clarified 
the fraternity’s ideals 
during the first, difficult 
months. She served as 
the second secretary 
and the third president 
of Alpha Xi Delta, succeeding Eliza Curtis-Everton in 
that office at the beginning of the winter term in 1893-94. 

Frances Cheney possessed in an unusual degree the 
gift of creating beauty in the use of language. While 
yet a young girl she began writing stories and poems 
which appeared in various papers and magazines. Dur¬ 
ing the years she spent at Lombard she wrote many 
poems. Some of these were set to music and are among 
the best loved Alpha Xi Delta songs. 

She was graduated from Ryder Divinity School in 
1895, and entered immediately upon pastoral work at 
Richmond, Ind. She continued this work, in which she 
was intensely interested, during the brief six years 
allotted her. When compelled to lay down her work, 





Frances Cheney, 1893 


Our Founders 


17 


she was serving on the Greenup circuit, the same circuit 
on which her sister, Almira, began to preach just six 
years afterward. 

Frances Cheney died December 13, 1901. Her name 
is a loved tradition to the entire fraternity. In her the 
ideals of Alpha Xi Delta were made manifest. She truly 
retained a spirit of toleration for the views of others, a 
broad sympathy for all conditions of men, never ceasing 
to seek for the likeness of God in those whom He has 
created in His own image and remembering always that 
there is an infinite and all-powerful Life behind all lesser 
being. 

ALMIRA CHENEY 

Almira Cheney was horn in Saybrook, Illinois, in 
1875. She attended the public schools there, graduating 
from the one year high school when fifteen years of age. 
Two years later she 
entered Lombard Col¬ 
lege. The great love 
which she contributed to 
the building of Alpha 
Xi Delta has persisted 
through the years. It 
has been an inspiration 
to many younger mem¬ 
bers of the fraternity 
who have met Rev. Miss 
Cheney at our national 
conventions. 

When twenty-one 
years old Almira 
Cheney received the de¬ 
gree A.B. She had been 
one of the students 
chosen to give an ad¬ 
dress of welcome to Dr. 

Nash when he came as a new president to Lombard. She 
was chosen from the members of her class as one of five 



Almira Cheney, 1893 



18 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


commencement speakers; the selection being based upon 
scholarship and the ability to speak in public. 

Of the next years part of her time was spent in teach¬ 
ing and part of it at 
home. She has to say 
of her real life work: 

Not until I was thirty-one 
did I find the work that I would 
rather do than anything else— 
the work of the ministry. Al¬ 
ways I had loved church work 
better than anything else, but 
was confronted with the neces¬ 
sity of earning my living while 
doing it. At times I thought 
of the ministry but always the 
question arose, “Can you have 
a sermon, perhaps two, ready 
every Sunday?” and I said 
"No.” The desire kept grow¬ 
ing, and finally, one happy day, 
I knew that I could have the 
sermons ready and could do 
whatever God wanted me to do 
in His service in the church. I 
immediately wrote to the Illinois fellowship committee and they granted 
me a license to preach without delay, knowing that I had an A.B. from 
Lombard even though I did not have a Bachelor of Divinity degree. 

And thus it was that I began to preach in October, 1907, on the 
Greenup circuit—the very circuit that Frances served when she had to lay 
down her work. I lived at Greenup just as she had done. 

Since 1913, I have held pastorates in Abingdon and Morrison, Illinois. 
In November, 1920, I became Supervisor of St. John’s Universalist Sunday 
School in Mtincie, Indiana. I was very happy in that work for eighteen 
months, at which time the Ohio Universalist Sunday School Association 
asked me to become State Director of their Sunday Schools. It is fascinat¬ 
ing work and I enjoy it greatly. As a pastor, I always longed for un¬ 
limited time to give to the children and young people. Now I have it and 
I hope to continue always in some capacity to work with children and 
youth. It is much more important to train children never to know an evil 
life than to seek to snatch them from it in the years of maturity. 

I like folks, just folks. I find that people are people anywhere I go 
and that there is a vast amount of unsuspected nobility. I try constantly 



Almira Cheney, 1923 


Our Founders 


19 


to see the image of God in every person, for we are all made in His like¬ 
ness. Not that I always succeed—oh, no, but when I condemn, I remem¬ 
ber afterwards that condemnation is not what any erring person needs, but 
understanding and appreciation. 


LOUIE STRONG-TAYLOR 

Louie Strong-Taylor is the descendant of a long line 
of pioneers who represent the best traditions of our 
country. The American branch of the Strong family was 
founded by Elder John 
Strong, a Puritan who 
settled in Massachusetts 
in 1630. The names and 
deeds of his descendants 
are recorded in two 
large volumes which 
present the research 
work in the Strong ge¬ 
nealogy done by Dr. 

Timothy Dwight, ex¬ 
president of Yale. She 
derived an equally 
sturdy inheritance from 
her mother, one going 
back to the early Eng¬ 
lish and Dutch settlers 
in America. 

Louie Strong was Louie Strong Taylor, 1893 

born July 18, 1867, at 

Coledoma, Houston County, Minn., on a farm at the edge 
of the town. When two years old, she removed with her 
parents to Iowa, where the following twenty-two years of 
her life were spent. Her education was that afforded by 
the typical, ungraded rural school of those days, which, 
even so, represented the determined efforts of parents to 
overcome handicaps and give to their children the oppor¬ 
tunities which lay in their power. She began her high 
school work at Storm Lake, Iowa, but the election to a 







20 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


position as teacher in the primary grades interrupted it 
within a few months. 

After three years of teaching, Louie Strong felt the 

need of further training 
and asked for a year’s 
leave of absence during 
which she could attend 
Lombard College. 

The year of college 
life is represented by 
the friendships which 
found their permanent 
expression in the found¬ 
ing of Alpha Xi Delta. 
The great gift which 
Louie Strong made to 
the fraternity which she 
helped conceive was the 
design of its emblem, 
the quill. 

Upon leaving Lom¬ 
bard College, she re¬ 
turned to teaching. With 
the passing of several years, she again felt the need of 
the inspiration which college association and study gives 
and this time she entered the University of Utah. The 
change of institution was made because she was then 
teaching in Salt Lake City. 

While a student in the university, she met Mr. E. A. 
Taylor, an instructor on the faculty. The acquaintance 
soon grew beyond friendship and they were married in 
1901. Four children, two daughters and two sons, were 
born of the union. Mr. Taylor early changed from the 
work of a university instructor to that of an engineer. 
The long absences from home required of him by his pro¬ 
fession, left to Mrs. Taylor the duties of both father and 
mother for much of the time. The little family looked 
forward to the times when the father was able to be at 



Louie Strong Taylor, 1923 


Our Founders 


21 


home with eager anticipation of jubilation and happy 
hours together. 

Her experience in college when attending the birth of 
Alpha Xi Delta and in observing the growth and develop¬ 
ment of her own children has brought a firm belief in the 
need for membership of young people in worthwhile 
societies whereby their ideals are strengthened and their 
aims in life made clear and definite, supported by clean 
ambitions. 


ALICE BARTLETT-BRUNER 

Alice Bartlett was the last recruit added to our found¬ 
ers, joining Alpha Xi Delta only three or four days be¬ 
fore the emergence from sub rosci existence. She was 
then fifteen years, old, 
having entered the pre¬ 
paratory department 
of Lombard College 
because of its nearness 
to her home in prefer¬ 
ence to making the 
longer trip to the public 
high school. 

She was an earnest, 
enthusiastic worker for 
the fraternity while in 
college. Her influence 
was an important factor 
in the movement to¬ 
ward nationalization. 

Alice Bartlett served 
as the first Grand Vice- 
president, attending the 
prolonged sessions of 
the Grand Committee during its first meeting in the home 
of Cora Bollinger-Block. 

On June 9, 1902 she assisted in installing Chapter 
S of P. E. 0. in Iowa Wesleyan College as Beta Chap- 



Alice Bartlett Bruner, 1893 




22 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


ter of Alpha Xi Delta. It is interesting to know that 
Mrs. Bruner has since become a member of Chapter 
E of P. E. 0. in Monmouth, Illinois. 

The Bartlett home 
was opened to the busi¬ 
ness sessions of the 
First National Conven¬ 
tion, held in Galesburg, 
May 8 and 9, 1903. 

The three great in¬ 
terests in Alice Bartlett 
Bruner’s life have been 
her fraternity, her 
music and her home. 
Following her gradua¬ 
tion from Lombard Col¬ 
lege in 1898 with the 
degree A.B., music 
came into its own. She 
continued the study of 
piano and organ at 
Knox Conservatory of 
Music in Galesburg. 

For five years she was organist in Galesburg’s Uni- 
versalist Church and for two years taught organ and 
harmony in Lombard Conservatory. Her love of music 
she has carried with her through the years, helping in 
the work of musical clubs to make it a more real and 
vital influence in American life. 

In 1904 Alice Bartlett became the bride of Dr. M. T. 
Bruner. They have lived in Joliet, Aurora, and, since 
1918, in Monmouth, all in Illinois. The care of her home 
and the rearing of her two daughters have filled the time 
and heart of Mrs. Bruner. 

JULIA MAUDE FOSTER 

Julia Maude Foster was born March 14,1875 in Brad¬ 
ford, Illinois. She came of a long line of American gen¬ 
erations. Her father’s ancestors emigrated to this coun- 



Alice Bartlett Bruner, 1923 




Our Founders 


23 




try prior to the Revo¬ 
lutionary War. Her 
mother’s forefathers 
accompanied William 
Penn on his expedition 
in 1682. Both families 
were earnest patroits 
during the. struggle for 
independence, entering 
the fighting when it 
first began at the battle 
of Lexington and con¬ 
tinuing steadfast until 
victory crowned the 
weary years of struggle. 

Love of their coun¬ 
try has been a domi¬ 
nate passion through the 
succeeding generations. 


Julia Maude Foster, 1923 


Julia Maude Foster, 1893 


Miss Foster’s father 
served through the 
Civil War. Her brother 
was with the American 
forces in Manila dur¬ 
ing the Spanish Amer¬ 
ican War and was com¬ 
missioned as surgeon 
in the World War. For 
two and one half years 
Mrs. Foster had charge 
of surgical dressings at 
one of the stations in 
Minneapolis. Miss Fos¬ 
ter, herself, gave every 
available minute to help¬ 
ing her mother with the 
surgical dressings or in 
assisting with the work 
of the draft board office. 




24 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


When Maude was five years of age, the family moved 
from Bradford, Illinois to Little River, Kansas. There 
the children, two girls and two little hoys, entered the 
public schools. Her parents came to believe that better 
educational opportunities would be afforded by a larger 
city and in 1891 moved once more—to Minneapolis, Min¬ 
nesota, where the family has since lived. 

While on a visit to an aunt in Illinois, Maude entered 
Lombard College and studied there for one year. Upon 
her return home, she decided upon work in the primary 
school grades as her profession. Peeling that no train¬ 
ing is of worth unless it is based upon knowledge and 
careful thought in the one giving it, she studied for three 
years at the Minneapolis Kindergarten School and was 
graduated there before beginning her teaching. In order 
that she may progress with the new developments arising 
in educational work, her summers have frequently been 
spent in professional study at the University of Min¬ 
nesota. 

Julia Maude Poster has given her life to the guidance 
and service of little children. Not alone does she make 
her gifts of loving training to those entrusted to her care 
during school hours. Realizing keenly that in the early 
years the whole life attitude is determined, she gathers 
about her tiny folk of foreign birth, moving them to love 
of America and American ways through the love which 
she herself inspires. 

Simply she stated the ideal working through all that 
she does: 

I aim to be absolutely true to the little people entrusted to me, for I 
am sure that the most careful and thoughtful training should be given in 
the earliest years. My watchword is “Service” and my greatest interest 
along educational lines. I expect to work as long as I can for the better¬ 
ing of conditions both educationally and socially for the little chidren. 


Our Founders 


25 



BERTHA COOK-EVANS 


From a Letter to the Editor 


I am one of the common herd, who by no chance could 
become a leader. My life is so ordinary that I hesitate to 

say anything about it. 

My father was born 
in England and came to 
America at the age of 
eighteen. My mother 
was born near Beecher 
City, Illinois, at which 
place, I, too, was born 
on November 5, 1874. 

Father was a country 
physician and among 
my girlhood memories 
are the times I went 
with him on his visiting 
rounds. He taught me 
to look for the wonder¬ 
ful and beautiful in 
nature; so I have a love 
of outdoor life. 

I attended village 
school until I was sixteen years old when I entered the 
preparatory school of Lombard College at Galesburg, 
Illinois. I was graduated in 1896. Of course I did not 
realize it then, but I know now, that the most helpful 
things of my college life were the influences of my pro¬ 
fessors and fellow students. Especially is this true of 
one particular student, Orrin C. Evans. On Septem¬ 
ber 29, 1896 he and I were married. 

I am thankful indeed, for the little more than twenty- 
four years of companionship which we had together. 
Mr. Evans died on March 13, 1921. Our two daughters 
are my comfort, joy and chief interests in life. I have 
been a “home-body,” but I try to know what goes on in 


Bertha Cook Evans, 1893 








26 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


the outside world. I think women should use the ballot. 

I do not agree with those who think the world is grow¬ 
ing worse. I think everyone should get all the joy pos¬ 
sible out of life: that, 
to a very great extent, 
we make our own 
heaven or hell. So each 
day we should ‘Take 
what God gives and 
build our House of Hap¬ 
piness. J ” 

Despite the fact that 
Mrs. Evans disclaims 
utterly the attributes 
of a leader, she was 
nevertheless one of the 
focal points in Alpha 
Xi Delta’s organization 
period. Her efficient en¬ 
thusiasm accomplished 
much for the fraternity 
while she was a mem¬ 
ber of the college chap¬ 
ter. She served as its president in 1895 and was grad¬ 
uated from Lombard College in 1896 with an A.B. degree. 

Her life has been an expression of a serene and stead¬ 
fast spirit which is unafraid to see clearly, which is will¬ 
ing to “Take what God gives and build a House of 
Happiness.” 



Bertha Cook Evans, 1923 




CHAPTER III 


EARLY DAYS 

F OLLOWING the initial chapel entrance of Alpha 
Xi Delta, made on April 17, 1893, its members 
worked diligently to complete the laying of the fra¬ 
ternity foundation. The last chapter meeting of the year, 
June 17, was made memorable by the formal signing of 
the constitution. 

The opening of college in the fall of 1893 found the 
chapter with only seven members, for Louie Strong- 
Taylor, Julia Maude Foster and Lucy Gilmer did not re¬ 
turn. Eliza Curtis-Everton had been elected president 
and under her direction the question of adding to the 
original members was considered. Belle Bishop-Wallace 
was the first initiate, being received early in the college 
year. Before Thanksgiving-time Carrie Stickney-Downs 
and Susie Berry-Dando were also initiated. Cora Bol- 
inger-Block did not return to college after the Thanks¬ 
giving holidays. Eliza Curtis-Everton and Bertha Cook- 
Evans had taken the rooms at 629 Day Street, which Mrs. 
Block and Mrs. McCollum had occupied previously, so 
the chapter continued to meet in that familiar place. 

Desiring that the growth of the fraternity might not 
be endangered by undue haste, members were added slow¬ 
ly. In 1893-94 eleven names appeared upon the chapter 
roll, and in 1894-95 twelve names. It was not until 1896- 
97 that the college membership mounted to twenty. 

Thoughts of becoming absorbed by some national fra¬ 
ternity were at first entertained, but were soon aban¬ 
doned. The girls wished to perpetuate the Alpha Xi 
Delta name and wholesomeness which had come to be so 
dear to them. The desire to make the fraternity national 
and to share with others its ideals grew through the 


mm 




Top row, left to right: Edna Epperson-Brinkman, Mabel Sammons, Florence Kober, Maud Andrew-Yan Camp, Edith Miller-Fletcher. 
Bottom row: Maud Oldfield, Ruth McAchran-Burchett, Marian Wrigley-Fischer, Anna Gillis-Kimble, Sarah Cook-Horton, Edith 
Gunder. 










Early Days 


29 


years and matured in 1901. The chapter at that time was 
composed of Edna Epperson-Brinkman, Mabel Sammons, 
Florence Kober-Page, Maude Andrew-Van Camp, Edith 
Miller-Fletcher, Maude Oldfield, Ruth McAchran-Bur- 


Cora Bollinger Block 

First Grand President 



chett, Marion Wrigley-Fischer, Anna Gillis-Kimble, 
Sarah Cook-Lorton and Edith Guilder. 

It was realized that one of the first necessities for 
a national organization would be a constitution fitted to 
its needs and that the simple rules under which Alpha Xi 
Delta had heretofore functioned would prove inadequate 


30 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


from a national viewpoint. Anna Gillis-Kimble was ap¬ 
pointed chairman of a constitutional committee. This 
committee consulted with Mr. J. J. Welsh, a Galesburg 
attorney, an alumnus of Lombard College and a member 
of Sigma Nu. Under his kindly and efficient direction a 
constitution was drafted which, with amendments, still 
serves the fraternity. On April 17, 1902, nine years 
after the founding of Alpha Xi Delta, Alpha Chapter 
observed Founders’ Day by adopting the constitution 
which declared the organization to be a national frater¬ 
nity. 

The election of grand officers was held. Cora Bol- 
linger-Block, who had served as the first president of the 
local organization now became its first national president. 
The other officers were: Alice Bartlett-Bruner, vice- 
president; Ella Boston-Leib, secretary; Edith Miller- 
Fletcher, treasurer; Anna Gillis-Kimble, historian; Edna 
Epperson-Brinkman, marshal; Jennie Marriott-Buclian- 
an, chaplain. 

It was at this time that the P. E. 0. society reluctantly 
decided to withdraw the charter of its one college chapter, 
Chapter S, at Iowa Wesleyan College, Mt. Pleasant, 
Iowa. Anna Gillis-Kimble, whose home was in Mt. Pleas¬ 
ant, became familiar with these circumstances and 
learned that the members of Chapter S were desirous 
of affiliating with a Greek-letter college organization. 
Through her influence a petition for a charter was sent 
to Alpha Xi Delta. 

The national aspirations of Alpha Xi Delta had been 
a closely guarded secret until June 9, 1902. On that day 
the fraternity’s members again surprised the student 
body by entering chapel, each wearing colors of gold and 
double blue. Hitherto, the colors had been two blues. 
With the nationalization achieved the gold was added 
inasmuch as another national fraternity already had 
light and dark blue for its colors. 

So was the announcement of Alpha Xi Delta’s ambi¬ 
tion made public. Immediately after the chapel service 


Early Days 


31 


the installation committee left for Mt. Pleasant. That 
same day the former Chapter S of P. E. 0. became Beta 
Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. Cora Bollinger-Block pre¬ 
sided at the ceremony which took place in the home of 
Ellen Ball. Assisting Mrs. Block were Ella Boston-Leib, 
Alice Bartlett-Bruner, Edna Epperson-Brinkman, Anna 



First Grand Committee 

Standing: Alice Bartlett Bruner, Ella Boston Leib. 

Seated: Edna Epperson Brinkman, Cora Bollinger Block, Edith Miller Fletcher. 


(xillis-Kimble, Virginia Henney-Franklin and Jennie 
Marriot-Buchanan. 

The training which the members of Beta Chapter had 
had as part of the national order of P. E. 0. proved in¬ 
valuable in the growth of Alpha Xi Delta. 

During the summer of 1902 the grand committee met 
at the home of Mrs. Block in Davenport, Iowa. A week 
was spent in one long succession of business meetings. 



32 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


At. this time Mrs. Block, Mrs. Brinkman, Mrs. Bruner, 
Mrs. Leib and Mrs. Fletcher revised the initiation service 
and made plans for the following year. 

On August 20, 1902 Mrs. Block installed the S. L. C. 
society of Mt. Union College, Alliance, Ohio as Gamma 
Chapter. The ceremony took place in the home of Mary 
Emily Kay, who afterward became Grand President. 

It is interesting to note that the petitions of Beta and 
Gamma Chapters were acted upon by the grand com¬ 
mittee and not by the college members of Alpha Chapter. 

The year of 1902-3 was spent in adjustment of the 
fraternity to national conditions and in preparation for 
the First National Convention which met with Alpha 
Chapter on May 8 and 9, 1903. There Alpha, Beta and 
Gamma Chapters discussed plans and decided upon the 
course of action which has so successfully resulted in the 
constant growth of the fraternity and in the realization 
of the dreams of those girls who first visioned Alpha Xi 
Delta as a national organization of American college 
women. 














CHAPTER IV 


THE COLLEGE CHAPTERS 

ALPHA CHAPTER, LOMBARD COLLEGE 

T HE history of the early years of Alpha Chapter is 
the history of the fraternity. The chapter has been 
true to the hope of its founders that Alpha Xi Delta 
might be able to contribute an added touch of pleasant¬ 
ness to life of all Lombard students. On the first Monday 
evening of each college year, Alpha Chapter holds ‘ ‘ open 
house” at its lodge for all students. There is no thought 
of rushing in connection with this occasion. It is purely 
a reception which furthers the acquaintance of new and 
old students and aids in transforming the lonely, home¬ 
sick boy or girl into a contented and loyal Lombardite. 

Three house-parties are given by the chapter each 
year. The first is always a Japanese party and is held 
during rushing week. The college Panhellenic permits but 
one elaborate function during the year to each fraternity. 
Custom has chosen the country club as the setting for it. 
Each of the Greek organizations, both men’s and wo¬ 
men’s, give one formal dance during the year. Late in 
the spring Alpha Chapter holds its annual party, through 
which it honors its senior members. 

In order to bring alumnae and college members into 
closer association the custom of enjoying a pickle-mix 
together once a month was adopted in 1922. Both alumnae 
and college members were always on the committee mak¬ 
ing the arrangements. Within a short time the better 
acquaintance and closer friendship so fostered justified 
the hopes of those who had inaugurated the plan. 

Each Christmas a party is given for the children of 
the Free Kindergarten. The small boys and girls are 


Beta Chapter 


35 


given a wonderful time, seeing for themselves that 
mysterious being, Santa Claus, who comes in person to 
take down the gifts from the Christmas tree and give 
them to their predestined owners. 

In 1917 the alumnae members presented the college 
chapter with a scholarship cup. Each year the name of 
the girl in the chapter having the highest scholastic aver¬ 
age is engraved upon it. 

In 1922 Epsilon Chapter of Lambda Phi Delta, a 
professional fine arts fraternity, was installed at Lom¬ 
bard College. Of its fourteen founders six were Alpha Xi 
Deltas: Audrey Whited, Mary Hoffrichter, Elizabeth 
Dopp, Leone Robinson, Margaret Anders and Eva Smith. 
Elizabeth Dopp served as its president for the year 1922- 
23 and was elected to succeed herself for the following 
year. 

All freshmen are invited by the college to try-out for 
the annual Townsend Declamation Contest. Alpha Chap¬ 
ter has made this a requirement for its freshmen. In 
both 1921 and 1922 one of its girls won second place in 
the contest and in 1923 Mildred Walholm won first place. 

Commencement week is a time of real reunion. Then, 
if possible, each alumnae member returns to take her place 
in the mystic circle formed in Alpha’s Love Feast when 
the chapter loving cup is passed from each to each and 
the spirit of love and allegiance to Alpha Xi Delta fills all 
hearts. 

BETA CHAPTER, IOWA WESLEYAN COLLEGE 

The P. E. 0. society is an organization with chapters 
scattered over thirty states and a membership of over 
twelve thousand women. A distinctive achievement is 
its sixty thousand dollar educational fund which is avail¬ 
able for use by worthy and ambitious girls in securing 
for themselves a higher education. 

The P. E. 0. Society was founded at Iowa Wesleyan 
College on January 21, 1869, by seven girls: Alice 
Bird Babb, Mary Ellen Stafford, Alice Coffin, Ella 


4 



First row, left to right: Louise Singer Maiken, Lulu Reandle, Maud Drummcnd, Maud Maiken, Dee Stiles Frances Arnold 
Greenwood. 

Second row: Mabel Spry, Maude Reeves Besser, Nell Downer Minear, Ina Duncan Huebner, Nellie Tribly Gillis, Axie Lute Mitchell 


Beta Chapter 


37 


Stewart, Franc Roads Elliott, Suella Pearson Penfield 
and Hattie Briggs Bosquet. They added to their number 
and as its members graduated they retained their active 
relationship with the society. As many Mt. Pleasant 
girls attended Iowa Wesleyan University and joined 
P. E. 0. it came about in time that there were more mem¬ 
bers in town than among the student body. 

Shortly after the organization was formed requests 
began to come for the installation of other chapters. 
Most of these were formed in the towns and cities of the 
middle west. A few chapters were established in colleges 
but there was no thought of making it an undergraduate 
society. The custom practiced by the college chapters of 
having their members retain active membership after 
graduation led to these chapters gradually growing into 
town chapters; that in Iowa Wesleyan College being 
the only one which retained its distinctness as a college 
chapter. In the beginning it had been known as Chapter 
Original A, but later took the name Chapter A-J to dis¬ 
tinguish it from the Mt. Pleasant Chapter. In 1889, how¬ 
ever, it seemed wisest to separate entirely from the town 
chapter and a new charter was granted, naming it 
Chapter S. 

Due to the difference in the environment of a college 
chapter and a city chapter, it became increasingly diffi¬ 
cult for Chapter S to conform to the rules of the organi¬ 
zation under which the city and town chapters were pros¬ 
pering. In 1902 the P. E. 0. governing body reluctantly 
decided that the withdrawal of the charter of Chapter S 
was the correct solution of the difficulty. The college 
chapter determined to affiliate with a Greek-letter organi¬ 
zation and through the influence of Anna Gillis-Kimble, 
whose home was in Mt. Pleasant, it became Beta Chapter 
of Alpha Xi Delta. 

The national ambitions of Alpha Xi Delta had been 
kept secret in Lombard College until the negotiations with 
the Mt. Pleasant girls were completed and arrangements 
made for the installation of the chapter. On June 9, 


38 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


1902, the members of Alpha Chapter wore their tri¬ 
colored ribbons into chapel for the first time, so proclaim¬ 
ing themselves a national body. Immediately after the 
service the installing officers left for Mt. Pleasant. 

Cora Bollinger-Block, then Grand President, presided 
at the installation ceremony which took place in the home 
of Ellen Ball. Assisting Mrs. Block were Ella Boston- 
Leib, Alice Bartlett-Bruner, Edna Epperson-Brinkman, 
Anna Gillis-Kimble, Virginia Heeney Franklin and Jen¬ 
nie Marriot-Buchanan. 

Beta Chapter was hostess to the Third National Con¬ 
vention, June 21-23, 1905. The chapter roll then num¬ 
bered nine, Iota Chapter having been installed on May 8, 
1905. The time between business sessions was spent in 
the round of social entertainment which Beta Chapter 
had planned for its guests. Delegates and visitors de¬ 
parted with a vivid sense of the sincere hospitality which 
had made their visit so pleasant. 

The introduction of student government into Elizabeth 
Hushey Hall was adopted through the influence of Miss 
De Nise, then dean of women. Alpha Xi Delta co-oper¬ 
ated in the plans for the new arrangement and in 1910-11 
Florence Coolidge-Anderson was president of the self- 
government association, a council of representatives 
from each class which were chosen by the girls in the 
dormitory. 

It was not until 1913 that the college authorities gave 
permission to Beta Chapter to initiate their P. E. 0. 
alumnae. This permission secured, a large number of the 
older women were at once affiliated with Alpha Xi Delta 
and the Mt. Pleasant Alumnae Chapter was organized. 

On September 25,1917, P. E. O. placed a bronze tablet 
on the wall in the music room of the “Old Main” build¬ 
ing, marking the place where its first meeting had been 
held. After the presentation of the tablet and its ac¬ 
ceptance by Dr. Edwin Scheel, president of the univer¬ 
sity, it was unveiled by Alice Babb, Beta, a daughter of 
Alice Bird Babb, one of the society’s founders. 


Gamma Chapter 


39 


Each commencement morning the members of Beta 
Chapter arise with the sun and go down the (< K” line 
to an old stone quarry. Here a great fire is built, the 
coffee pot put on, weanies roasted, eggs fried, and an out¬ 
door breakfast prepared. After the breakfast is eaten, 
the girls gather round the embers of their dying fire and 
sing the songs of their fraternity until it is time for the 
seniors to return to the university and receive the de¬ 
grees which transform them from college into alumnae 
members. 

An annual camp is one of the old, old customs of Beta 
Chapter. During the pleasant days of mid-summer, the 
camp serves as a joyous reunion for all the girls who 
live near enough to attend. There, in the long, quiet 
hours, the old months and years are re-lived and plans 
are made for the other months, soon to come. 

GAMMA CHAPTER, MT. UNION COLLEGE 

Late in the spring of 1894 six girls formed the S. L. C. 
club. After several weeks, faculty approval of their or¬ 
ganization was secured through the influence of Mrs. 
Brush, the mother of one of the girls and a member of the 
faculty. Edmund Nicholson, a Sigma Nu, was particu¬ 
larly helpful to the girls during the period of organization 
and establishment. S. L. C. had a consistent and satis¬ 
factory growth. Nine years later when it petitioned 
Alpha Xi Delta for a charter, its members already num¬ 
bered over one hundred. Its place in the life of the col¬ 
lege was secure and influential. 

Gamma Chapter was installed on August 20, 1902 by 
Cora Bollinger-Block, Alpha. When college opened that 
fall, its members returned wearing their golden quills. 

The Second National Convention met with Gamma 
Chapter May 13-14, 1904. The delegates were made wel¬ 
come by the entire college. The one other women’s frater¬ 
nity, Delta Gamma, entertained in their honor while the 
men’s fraternities decorated their houses in double blue 
and gold. 



Gamma Chapter, 1904 













Gamma Chapter 


41 


The editorial staff elected at this convention was: 
Editor, Mary Salmon-Bolton; Associate Editor, Mildred 
Tucker; Business Manager, Mabel Hartzell; all of Gam¬ 
ma Chapter. The numbers of the second volume of The 
Alpha Xi Delta were published at Alliance, Ohio, three 
numbers being issued during the year. 

Gamma Chapter was permitted a fraternity house for 
a few years after its installation, due to the inadequate 
provision for the housing of women students. With the 
completion of a new dormitory the girls were asked to 
give up their house and move into the quarters provided 
for them. While the trustees of Mt. Union College have 
never changed their policy, in 1917 the chapter received 
approval of its plan to build a chapter-house, which was 
not to be used as a rooming place by the girls. 

The financing of the house itself was in the hands of 
the Alliance Alumnae Chapter. The purchase of the fur¬ 
niture for it and the raising of the funds which that 
required was entrusted to the college chapter. Many 
money-making plans were tried; selling papers and silver 
polish and collecting tin foil. The most novel of their 
plans and one which proved lucrative was a book store 
kept under a bed at which pencils, paper and examination 
blanks could be secured. 

The college Y. W. C. A. has an extremely efficient 
social service department with which the chapter is in 
sympathy and through which it works instead of dupli¬ 
cating some part of the Y. W. work in its own name. 

In 1921 the faculty offered two cups to be awarded 
each semester to the chapter of the men’s and women’s 
fraternities having the highest average scholastic stand¬ 
ing. If held for three consecutive semesters, the cups 
were to pass permanently into the possession of the chap¬ 
ter so securing them. Gamma Chapter held the women’s 
cup the first semester of 1921-22 but lost it by a very 
small fraction in the second semester. 

The policy of Mt. Union College had always discoun¬ 
tenanced intercollegiate athletics for women. As a result 


42 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


of this attitude the interest of the women students in the 
athletics offered them was practically non-existent. In 
1922 a movement, having Grace Kennedy as its leader, 
originated among the girls and was able to persuade the 
faculty to sanction intercollegiate basketball. The in¬ 
creased interest was at once marked. Gamma Chapter 
was represented by three of its members on the first 
team to meet those of rival colleges. 

DELTA CHAPTER, BETHANY COLLEGE 

Previous to the installation of any women’s fraternity 
a custom peculiar to itself existed at Bethany. The 
men’s fraternities each elected a number of girls to wear 
their pin and be henceforth known as a Beta girl or a 
Sigma Nu girl or however it might be. The pin was the 
gift of the chapter and meant only that the girl wearing 
it had pledged her loyalty to that badge and would ear¬ 
nestly work to further the interests of that chapter. 

This custom governed more or less the association of 
the girls and tended to prevent the natural formation of 
groups attracted by their similar likes and interests. On 
the night of December 13, 1902, however, seven girls met 
in room 24 of Phillips Hall to discuss plans for the or¬ 
ganization of a fraternity. Margaret Curtis-Pierce was 
elected president, and Elizabeth Carson-Brown, secre¬ 
tary. A committee was appointed to prepare a constitu¬ 
tion and by-laws. The local organization w r as completed, 
the single letter “Delta” being chosen by some odd 
chance as its name. Plans were at once made having as 
their goal the realization of the chapter’s ambition to be¬ 
come affiliated with a national fraternity. 

Many meetings were held in room 24, and the book 
which records their minutes is the greatest treasure in 
the archives of the college chapter to-day. The chapter 
was indebted in many ways to Mr. W. E. Pierce, who was 
later to be the husband of its president, Margaret Curtis- 
Pierce. He helped the girls in the puzzling details of 



Interior Views of Delta's Chapter House 







44 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

organization which at first troubled them. Through his 
suggestion, correspondence with Gamma Chapter was be¬ 
gun, and Alpha Xi Delta became their definite aim. 

On June 6, 1903 Delta Chapter was installed by Mary 
Salmon-Bolton and Mabel Hartzell, both of Gamma Chap¬ 
ter. The charter members were the seven girls who had 
organized the local fraternity, Delta: Julia White-John- 
son, Margaret Curtis-Pierce, Muriel Scott, Pearl Sayler- 
Watson, Elizabeth Carson-Brown, Anna Mary Kemp and 
Virginia Stewart-Erskine. 

Dr. Cramblet, then president of the college, permitted 
the girls the use of a room in his home, “The Heights,” 
as a chapter hall. Through the same kind spirit, the early 
Founders ’ Day banquets were also held in his home. 

In 1905 Delta Chapter organized the college Pan- 
hellenic association. This w r as its duty and prerogative 
as the oldest national fraternity at Bethany College. 
Panhellenic has become a force in the college life. It 
maintains an extremely low limit upon the amount of 
money which it allows its member chapters to spend upon 
rushing and has entirely eliminated many formerly ob- 
jectional features. 

Delta and Iota Chapters entertained the Fourth Con¬ 
vention when it met in Morgantown, W. Va., October 31, 
and November 1-2, 1907. 

In 1909, due to the over-crowded conditions in the 
women’s dormitory, permission was given the chapter to 
move into a fraternity house. In 1920 faculty approval 
was given the desire of Delta Chapter to own its own 
home and the house now occupied by the chapter was 
purchased. 

Delta Chapter practices a charming custom in calling 
the roll of the entire membership each fraternity meeting. 
When an alumnae returns and answers once more to her 
name she feels again the thrill of sisterhood and realizes 
surely that the years have made no difference. 

After each pledging and initiation service, Delta 
Chapter goes serenading. As the voices of the new girls 



Stewart Erskine. 








46 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

blend with those of the girls older in Alpha Xi Delta, sing¬ 
ing together the songs of the fraternity, that mysterious 
process by which hearts are welded into sisterhood is 
begun. 

It is the custom for the members of the chapter to 
make a house-gift each Christmas. Some luxury or de¬ 
sired piece of furniture is secured so that the girls who 
come after them, may also share in the joy of the day. 

Founders’ Day is observed with a banquet, and the 
custom has long been established which assigns each new 
initiate to a place on the program. During the prepara¬ 
tion of their toasts their thoughts must dwell upon the 
day and its meaning. So a better understanding of the 
fraternity and its origin is won. 

The members of Alpha Xi Delta have been prominent 
in all phases of undergraduate life at Bethany College, 
in campus organizations, in athletics and in scholarship. 
Lottie Griffith-Rast, ’22, was a founder of the chapter of 
Alpha Phi Epsilon, national literary fraternity. Kather¬ 
ine Hurt, ’22, was a founder of Sigma Sigma, honorary 
home economics fraternity. 

EPSILON CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA 

The enthusiasm of Lorena Grange-Sweet led to the 
organization of the R. I. society early in the spring of 
1903. Correspondence with the Grand Committee of 
Alpha Xi Delta was soon opened and in June of that year 
the petitioning group was visited by Edna Epperson- 
Brinkman, Alpha. The power to install the chapter had 
been vested in her, should she decide such action to be 
for the best interest of the fraternity. The ceremony 
took place during commencement week in 1903. The sev¬ 
en charter members of Epsilon Chapter were Lorena 
Grange-Sweet, Zola Jones-Newcombe, Hazel Lotze, Clara 
Salmer-Cason, Josephine Hanson-Hedeen, Mabel Rich¬ 
ardson, and her sister, Ethel Richardson-Stillwell. 

A room, which the chapter used as a fraternity hall, 



Charter Members, Epsii.cn Chapter 

First row, left to right: Clara Salmer Cason, Hazel Lotze, Lorena Grange Sweet, Zola Jones Newcombe, 
Josephine Hanson Hedeen. 

Second row: Mabel Richardson, Elsie Sargent (pledge), Ethel Richardson Stillwell. 



48 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

was rented in a private home. The landlady was a kind¬ 
ly, gracious person, for the early chapter letters speak 
often of the feasts and spreads which she allowed the 
girls to prepare in her kitchen. 

Determined that chapter meetings should be a cultural 
influence as well as a business conference and a pleasant 
social time, a plan of definite study was adopted in 1905. 
“Artists and Musicians” afforded the discussion points 
for the meetings during the first semester and occas- 
sionally, at their request, faculty members gave informal 
talks to the girls. 

The advisory plan as an aid in helping the freshmen 
orient their college life was adopted in 1917. One of the 
older girls is the particular adviser of each freshman. 
To her the younger sister can go with perplexities and 
troubles, certain of a sympathetic listener who will give 
comfort and understanding advice. 

An unfurnished house was rented in 1919, and the 
chapter made it into a home, furnished in comfortable, 
inviting wicker. The girls returned to school one week 
early in order to do the many tasks which getting settled 
always involves. By the time the university opened, 
order had been produced from chaos and the fraternity 
housekeeping had already fallen into a pleasant routine. 

A clever and successful musical comedy was given in 
1922 for the benefit of the convention fund. So, through 
the judicious mixing of fun and w T ork and real ability the 
chapter was enabled to send two delegates instead of one 
to the distant meeting of the Grand Chapter. 

One of the long-established social customs of Epsilon 
Chapter centers in the fall dance which follows rushing. 
The freshmen girls are always hostesses, entertaining 
in their turn the active girls who have so pleasantly en¬ 
tertained them in the opening weeks of their university 
life. 


Zeta Chapter 


49 


p 

r : 

ZETA CHAPTER, WITTENBERG COLLEGE 

The local fraternity, Sigma Pi, which had been organ¬ 
ized in the fall of 1903, was installed May 11, 1904, as 
Zeta Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. Edna Epperson-Brink- 
man, Alpha, and Edith Guilder, Alpha, presided at the 
ceremony, which took place in Enterpean Literary So¬ 
ciety Hall. The six girls initiated at that time were: 
Mabel Winn-Himes, Myrtle Wildasin, Mabel Bracher- 
Cunningham, Anna Miller-Ivnote, Mary Hubbell and 
Mary Elizabeth Houck. Seven girls had petitioned for 
the charter but four days before the installation service 
Lillian May Schmelz, one of the number, died at her home 
in Springfield. Sadness overshadowed the natural joy 
in the occasion and the ceremonies were attended with 
the utmost simplicity. The Second Convention, in ses¬ 
sion May 13-14, 1904, voted unanimously that Lillian May 
Schmelz should be forever considered a sister in good 
standing in Alpha Xi Delta and that her name should 
appear as a charter member of her chapter. 

The following fall the chapter rented two large, com¬ 
fortable rooms in the college building which was partly 
occupied by the Conservatory of Music. An informal 
reception was held there on September 29, 1904, when, 
for the first time as Alpha Xi Deltas, the girls welcomed 
their friends into their fraternity home. Later the chap¬ 
ter had rooms for several years in the home of Mrs. 
Harris, one of its patronesses. It was not until 1911 that 
the girls moved into a house. The disturbance of moving 
and getting settled having ended, a “house warming” 
was held November 20. Over three hundred faculty mem¬ 
bers, student and town friends came to offer their good 
wishes to the new housekeepers. Favors of Alpha Xi 
Delta roses were given to each guest in acknowledgment 
of their kind thoughts and words. In 1920, the Spring- 
field Alumnae Chapter purchased a permanent home for 
the use of the college chapter. It is quite close to the 
campus and well suited to fraternity life. 




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Zeta Chapter 


51 


In 1917 the college Panhellenic Association undertook 
the establishment of a scholarship fund which would en¬ 
able some girl to continue her college work who might 
otherwise have been compelled to leave without finishing 
it because of lack of funds. Alpha Xi Delta helped with 
the financing of this project which was born through the 
desire of the women’s fraternities to make their Pan¬ 
hellenic Association of real benefit to the entire college. 

For many years Zeta Chapter has opened its house at 
Christmas time to the children of a near-by orphanage. 
Gathering the homeless youngsters in, they are treated to 
an afternoon of unstinted candies and hilarious play 
which ends with the glad climax of gifts for every one, 
taken down from the branches of the Christmas tree. 

The regular social service work chosen by Zeta Chap¬ 
ter has been the teaching of classes in English. These 
classes are composed of foreigners and meet in Settle¬ 
ment House. 

After its initiation service Zeta Chapter gives a ban¬ 
quet to its new members. This banquet is always held in 
the chapter-house and talks are given on friendship, 
activities, sisterhood, loyalty and kindred subjects. After 
taking the vows of Alpha Xi Delta the initiates are thus 
permitted to hear what the fraternity has meant in the 
lives of some of those who have already lived in its mem¬ 
bership several years. Following the banquet the entire 
chapter serenades, singing to its friends the songs of its 
loved fraternity. The “Bose of Alpha Xi” is a favorite 
with Zeta Chapter and the custom of standing whenever 
it is sung has long been observed. 

Zeta Chapter stands high in participation in campus 
activities and in scholastic rank. Doris Moffett and 
Rachael Markley but expressed in action the ideals of 
their fraternity when they took a leading part in the 
organization, in 1923 of Theta Alpha Pi, national honor¬ 
ary dramatic fraternity. 


52 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


ETA CHAPTER, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 

Early in the spring of 1904 a copy of The Alpha Xi 
Delta came into the hands of Miss Katherine Rulison, 
secretary to the Chancellor, and with the help of Bertha 
Cleveland, she undertook the organization of a local 
fraternity. Miss Rulison suggested the girls who were 
its charter members, all of whom possessed strong per¬ 
sonalities and maintained a high standard of scholarship. 
During the difficult period of organization and establish¬ 
ment, Miss Rulison was invaluable in aid and suggestion. 
As an expression of appreciation and honor the frater¬ 
nity called itself by her initials, Kappa Rho. Corre¬ 
spondence was at once begun with Anna Gillis-Kimble, 
Alpha, and Marion Wrigley-Fischer, Alpha. 

The petition of Kappa Rho was received May 14,1904 
by the Grand Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta while in session 
at Alliance, Ohio, in its second convention. The charter 
was granted, conditioned upon the favorable decision of 
a visiting committee who were given the power to install 
the chapter. Axie Lute-Mitchel, Beta, and Mary Salmon- 
Bolton, Gamma, were appointed. From the convention 
they went at once to Syracuse to visit the petitioning 
group. 

Being favorably impressed, both by the girls and the 
reports received of them, they pledged and installed the 
chapter on May 28, 1904. The charter members were: 
Bertha Cleveland-Patterson, Laura Weller-Gregory, 
Terese Tobin-Wright, Elizabeth Loetzer, Leila Dows- 
land-Davis, Dora Lockwood, Martha Hutchings-McKean, 
Grace Fox-Carr, Nettie Britton-Dence, Helen Tobin- 
Lantz, and Dora Baker-Davis. 

With its first observance of Founders 1 Day, Eta 
Chapter originated a custom observed ever since. The 
active members, pooling their funds, make a gift to the 
chapter. A needed library chair was presented in 1905 
and a library table in 1906. 

The Third Convention, 1905, authorized the publica- 



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54 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


tion of a new edition of the songbook. The work was 
placed in the hands of Eta Chapter under the direction of 
Terese Tobin-Wright and Martha Hutchings-McKean. 
Both words and music for a number of the songs were 
written by these two girls. In 1907 the Fourth Conven¬ 
tion appointed Margaret Hoard-Garrett, Eta, Custodian 
of the Songbook. She has served the fraternity in that 
office during all of the years that have passed since then. 
In 1913 Clara Nelson, Eta, was appointed chairman of 
the committee which edited and published the third 
edition of the songbook. 

The Third Convention, 1907, elected an editorial staff 
for The Alpha Xi Delta composed of Bertha Cleveland- 
Patterson, Grand Editor, Gertrude Wright-Gilmour, 
Associate Editor, Dora Lockwood, Business Manager, 
and Martha Hutchings-McKean, Assistant Business Man¬ 
ager, all of Eta Chapter. The following convention, 1909, 
again elected a staff composed entirely of Eta members: 
Martha Hutchings-McKean, Grand Editor, Gertrude 
Wright-Gilmour, Associate Editor, Dora Lockwood, 
Business Manager, and Edith Lawrence, Assistant Bus¬ 
iness Manager. So for four years the publication of The 
Alpha Xi Delta rested entirely in the hands of Eta Chap¬ 
ter, a distinction which no other chapter has ever had. 

On October 28, 29 and 30, 1909, the Fifth Convention 
met with Eta Chapter. At that time the fraternity num¬ 
bered fifteen college and four alumnae chapters. Sixty- 
two women are to be seen upon the convention picture. 
The delegates and visitors carried away with them a 
sense of delightful courtesy from their hostess chapter 
and an impression of pleasant Panhellenic relations, for 
the other fraternities had done all that was possible to 
make the time enjoyable for them. 

Ethel Baldwin-Bruce was one of the early presidents 
of the Womens League, one of the most influential of 
the undergraduate organizations at Syracuse University. 
She also represented her university at the Student Gov¬ 
erning Convention held in New York City. 


Eta Chapter 


55 


Twice Eta Chapter has had the distinction of having 
one of its members graduate at the head of her class. In 
1903 Bertha Cleveland-Patterson was graduated first in 
her class and in 1907 Martha Hutchings-McKean and 
Nellie Bulton were graduated first and third respectively. 

Early in the life of the chapter the Syracuse Alumnae 
Chapter established the custom of presenting a gold piece 
to the freshman who had the highest scholastic average 
for the year among the members of that class belonging 
to the fraternity. Later the* gold piece was replaced by 
a loving cup which is awarded to the successful girl and 
held by her for the next twelve months. The Activity 
Locket is an added custom, being presented at the same 
time as the cup. It is a gift to the girl in the chapter who 
has been most active during the year in the worth-while 
organizations of the campus. 

The dream of both Eta Chapter and Syracuse Alumnae 
Chapter of sometime building a home of their own seemed 
about to be realized in 1914. Plans for financing it had 
been carefully arranged. Plans for the building had been 
designed by Hazel Slayton, a member of the college chap¬ 
ter and a student in the architectural school. An oppor¬ 
tunity of buying the house of Dr. Metzler, Dean of 
Mathematics, arose and the building plans were aban¬ 
doned in its favor. During the summer of 1915 the 
alumnae chapter, working with Helen Truair as chairman, 
assisted by Belle Chadburne and Lena Baldwin, secured 
funds and arranged the details of the purchase. The col¬ 
lege chapter moved in with the opening of the university 
that fall. The house is a large gray one, situated only a 
block from the campus and well suited to fraternity life. 

Faculty night is a custom which Eta Chapter has ob¬ 
served for a number of years. Once each week a member 
of the faculty is invited to dinner by a senior. The cus¬ 
tom is not only pleasant for the chaperon, it is a step 
toward the individual contact between professor and 
student which is so sorely needed in American colleges. 


56 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Annually, Eta Chapter gives a slumber party. City 
girls and freshmen attend, spending the sleeping hours 
in the jubilant chatting and visiting which makes all 
slumber parties such delightful memories. 

Each Christmas a number of poor children come to 
Eta’s house for a real party. There the haunting fear 
lest Santa Claus forget them is lost amid the games and 
sweets and toys found upon the Christmas tree. 

THETA CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 

In 1903 a club of nine members, which took the name 
of Zeta Gamma, was organized at the University of Wis¬ 
consin. It petitioned Alpha Xi Delta in 1904. Axie Lute- 
Mitchell, Beta, inspected the local chapter and Theta 
Chapter was installed January 8, 1905, by Mrs. Mitchell, 
Elle Boston-Leib, Alpha and Marie Tuttle-Yoorkis, Beta. 
The installation of Theta Chapter marked the second 
timfe that Alpha Xi Delta entered a state university. 

The installation ceremony took place at the home of 
Lulu and Alma Bunge, 310 Murray Street. The charter 
members of Theta Chapter were: Bessie Adams-Dock- 
stadter, Iva Allan-Baker, Ellen M. Bhoades, Augusta 
Lorch, Eudora Cook-Westergoard, Nettie M. Cook, Lulu 
Bunge, Alma Bunge, Ora Mason-Moles, Mary McBae- 
Bichards, Bertha Davis, Buth Lyon-Kemmerer, Bessie 
Underwood-Sprecher, Mary Olin and Nellie Angell- 
Nichols. 

After the ceremony a dinner was served to the new 
initiates and the patronesses, followed by impromptu 
toasts, given by Grand President Leib, Mrs. Mitchell, 
Mrs. Yoorkis, patronesses Mrs. Scott Goodnight and Mrs. 
Boyd Bode, and members of Theta Chapter. Bessie 
Adams-Dockstadter acted as toastmistress. During the 
dinner greetings were received from the other frater¬ 
nities of the universities. 

The next important event in the history of Theta 
Chapter was the move into a chapter-house, that at 434 



First row, left to right: Mary Olin, Ora Mason Moles, Iva Allen Baker, Bessie Adams Dockstadter. 

Second row: Ellen Rhoades,' Eudora Cook Westergoard, Bessie Underwood Sprecher, Mary McRae Richards, Bertha Davis, Nellie 
Angell Nichols. 

Third row: Augusta Lorch, Alma Runge, Nettie Cook, Ruth Lyon Kemmerer, Lulu Runge. 













58 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Sterling Place. This house was built by the Building 
Association of Theta Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. No¬ 
vember 12,1911 a formal reception was held to introduce 
its new home of the “Hill” to the friends of the chapter. 

The Sixth National Convention of Alpha Xi Delta was 
held in Madison October 26-28, 1911. The regular con¬ 
vention sessions were accompanied by many entertain¬ 
ments. The first night of the convention, Theta Chapter 
entertained its guests with “vodvil” stunts, given at the 
Al-Fussy-Del-Tah Theater. A formal dance was the 
feature of the second day and the last afternoon a recep¬ 
tion was given at the chapter-house, followed by a banquet 
at Lathrop gymnasium. 

Theta Chapter ranked first in scholarship in 1909, 
which was the first year in which the scholastic standing 
of the men’s and women’s fraternities was recorded. It 
has remained near the first of the list every year since. 
The pledges of Theta Chapter ranked first among pledges 
in 1916. 

Every year at Homecoming there are many social 
affairs planned for every one visiting the chapter, and 
the time is made a gala-event. Christmas is always cele¬ 
brated with a party for alumnae members, patronesses 
and their families and the college chapter. There is a 
Christmas tree with Santa Claus himself to distribute 
the gifts to the children. The last dinner before the girls 
leave for their Christmas vacations is a “slam party” 
when appropriate gifts are exchanged, each bearing an 
original verse, appropriate to the recipient. 

Founders’ Day is celebrated each year by a banquet 
for pledges, college and alumnae members. Mothers’ 
Day is observed by a week-end of parties and entertain¬ 
ments for the parents and families of the girls. At the 
close of each year a farewell banquet is given by the 
chapter for the seniors. The juniors are in charge of 
the arrangements and on this occasion the gift of an 
honor ring is made by the alumnae chapter to the senior 
ranking highest in scholarship. 


Iota Chapter 


59 


For almost twenty years Theta Chapter camped each 
June on Lake Monona in the cottage of Mary and Lucile 
Bayne. This camping party, which took place after the 
college activities were over, has been replaced by a picnic 
at which the girls have a few happy moments together 
before leaving for their homes. 

The latest and most important event in the history of 
Theta Chapter is the purchase of a lot on Lake Mendota 
where a new home will be built during the summer of 
1923. The plans are ready and the new house will be a 
charming embodiment of the English ideal in archi¬ 
tecture. 

Unique honor came to Theta Chapter through one of 
its members, Helen Smith, Phi Beta Kappa, 1919. Miss 
Smith was elected as one of the first American fellows 
under the exchange system which had been established by 
the French government. She studied at the Ecole 
Normale Superieure, Sevres, France. 

IOTA CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF WEST VIRGINIA 

The existence of Iota ChajAer as Beta Pi, a local fra¬ 
ternity, dates informally from the fall quarter of 1904. 
It was not until February 10,1905 that a formal organiza¬ 
tion was effected. On May 9, 1905 Beta Pi was installed 
as Iota Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. Julia White-John¬ 
son, Delta, and Mary Emily Kay, Gamma, presided at 
the ceremoiiy which took place in the home of Crystal 
Courtney-Dacy. The charter members of Iota Chapter 
were: Crystal Courtney-Dacy, Drusilla Johnson-Quisck, 
Bertha Jane Smith, Ethel Averil Green, Lillian Smith- 
Starcher, Elizabeth Saddler-Parriott and Mary Cooper. 

Dr. Charles Ambler, then an instructor in history at 
the university was of great aid to the petitioning group, 
giving them valuable advice and help whenever needed. 

Delta and Iota Chapters were hostesses to the Fourth 
National Convention at Morgantown, W. Va., October 
31, November 1-2, 1907. The spirit of welcome which 



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Iota Chapter 


61 


greeted the delegates was manifest not only in the uni¬ 
versity but throughout the entire town. The mayor of 
Morgantown seconded the address of welcome made by 
the president of the university. Iota Chapter had won 
its way so completely into the hearts of the people that 
they were ready to extend their friendship to all Alpha 
Xi Deltas. 

As the oldest and longest established chapter of the 
university, the responsibility of organizing the college 
Panhellenic fell upon Iota Chapter. In the spring of 
1906 the first Panhellenic meeting was held. Rushing 
rules for the next fall were agreed upon. These rules, 
printed and bound as booklets, were presented by the 
dean of women to each new woman student upon registra¬ 
tion. 

For several years chapter meetings were held at the 
homes of the girls who lived in Morgantown. In 1909 
a room was rented and furnished. With this common 
meeting place, adequate for chapter meetings, initiation 
services and chafing dish suppers, it was some years 
before the need of a chapter-house was felt and a frater¬ 
nity home established. The chapter has long occupied 
an attractive, roomy house quite close to the campus. 

Thanksgiving Day is the time of Iota’s annual reunion. 
All of its alumnae are invited to the chapter-house for a 
Thanksgiving feast and the renewal of their fraternal 
life. Christmas is traditionally kept with a little girl 
party. Every one comes dressed in attractive juvenile 
garments and Santa Claus appears in person to reward 
his good children and see that his gifts are properly dis¬ 
tributed from their places on the great tree which towers 
in the living-room. But Christmas is not a time of selfish 
merry making. Morgantown lies in the midst of the 
West Virginia mining region. Through the gifts of the 
chapter many of the miners ’ children are given a happier 
holiday time than would otherwise be theirs. 

Engagements, symbolized either by the wearing of pin 
or ring, are announced to the chapter with a gift of a 


62 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

five-pound box of candy. In its turn the chapter makes 
a wedding gift to each of its brides of a set of spoons 
engraved with the fraternity letters. 

Mary Meek Atkeson was the first girl pledged to Iota 
Chapter after its installation. A few years later, under 
her leadership, a beautiful ceremony was written for use 
when a patroness first becomes associated with the chap¬ 
ter. This ceremony was approved by national action 
and recommended to the other chapters. 

The contributions made to the life of the university 
by members of Iota Chapter have been many and of 
lasting value and influence. The two senior honorary 
societies both number Alpha Xi Deltas among their 
founders. Mary Meek Atkeson was influential in the or¬ 
ganization of Laurel, election to which has come to be 
one of the highest honors which can be won by a woman 
student. Blanche Emory and Ida Smith were both char¬ 
ter members of Rhododendrow. Leda Atkeson-Sheets, 
1912, was the first woman elected to West Virginia Chap¬ 
ter of Phi Beta Kappa. Alpha Xi Delta girls were 
prominent among the founders of the three women’s 
secret interfraternity organizations on the campus, 
X., R. J., and S. E. S. 

Nelle Shughrow and Florence Lazenby were two of 
the girls who were responsible for the organization of 
the Women’s Athletic Council. This body has under its 
control all of the varied athletic interests of the women 
students, co-ordinating their development and assuring 
co-operation between the many diverse factors. 

Of the very few women who have been graduated 
from the College of Medicine in the University of West 
Virginia, five Alpha Xi Deltas have received the degree 
B.S. in Medicine and gone forth to the active practice of 
their profession. 

The 4 ‘Rose Gift” is a dinner given each year by Iota 
Chapter on the last evening of the rushing season. Then, 
under the soft glow of rose-shaded lights, rushees are 
given a slight insight into the feeling that exists deep in 


Kappa Chapter 


63 


the hearts of Alpha Xi Deltas. The gift of a single rose 
is made to each guest as the favor for the evening. 

Friday evening house dances are one of Iota Chap¬ 
ter^ pleasant social customs. Once each year each of 
the men’s fraternities receive an invitation for such an 
occasion. The two large living-rooms are thrown to¬ 
gether, the rugs rolled up, the victrola wheeled into place 
and a great bowl of punch made ready. The guests come 
and go as they choose. With laughter and music and 
dancing the short hours go by and suddenly it is time 
for leave-taking. The hour of rules has again come 
round. 

KAPPA CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

On December 15, 1905 Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha, and 
Frances Richey, Alpha, installed the local fraternity, 
Omega Omicron, as Kappa Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. 
The ceremony took place in the home of Nellie Branch, 
610 South State Street, where the installing officers were 
being entertained as the guests of her mother, Mrs. Wil¬ 
liam Branch, a patroness. The chapter installed had 
twelve members: Louise E. De Witt, Martha Fargo, 
Winifred Campbell, Nellie Branch, Marian C. Bell, Clar- 
ine Llewellyn, Elizabeth Abbott, Agnes Shannon, Iris 
Wood, Rosalie Retz, Louise Yale and Katherine Blake. 

For the first year after its installation Kappa Chap¬ 
ter had a pleasant apartment of two rooms which it used 
as a chapter hall and where informal parties and spreads 
were held. The next fall the chapter moved into a fur¬ 
nished house which it occupied for two years. At the end 
of that time more space was needed than this house 
afforded. Owing to the youth of the chapter buying or 
building was still out of the question. Mr. Riley came to 
its aid by building a house which he rented to it and per¬ 
mitting the chapter to plan the arrangements. So suited 
to the needs of fraternity life was his home that the chap¬ 
ter has now, 1923, lived in it for fifteen years. 



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Kappa Chapter 


65 


Recently, a building lot was purchased and plans 
made for a larger and more modern house which the 
chapter will build in the near future. 

In 1913 Kappa Chapter was hostess to the national 
convention. Sixty-five delegates and visitors were enter¬ 
tained. One of the features of the social side of the con¬ 
vention was a “Stunt Show” given by the Illinois girls 
for their visitors. The program was one of seven num- 



Kappa Chapter-House 

(University of Illinois, Champaign, Ill.) 


bers, the last being a particularly clever pantomime, 
“Doings in a Chapter-house,” which had been worked 
up for the occasion. 

The ease with which incidental expenses mount to un¬ 
reasonable figures forms a problem in every fraternity 
chapter. A solution of this problem was attempted by 
Kappa Chapter in 1918. Finances were put upon a 
budget basis. Each girl paid a stated amount into the 
treasury every month. The total so formed covered all 
house expenses, not alone board and room but social ex¬ 
penses also, including even formal dances. So satisfac- 







66 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


tory did the plan prove when in operation that it has been 
continued since that time. 

The social customs of the chapter are many. Writing 
of them, Lois Seyster-Montrose says: 

Every freshman has taken part in an occasion called the freshman 
stunt show, when humble wearers of the green are required to cavort before 
their elders, making merry in some original skit: a minstrel show perhaps, 
a musical comedy or burlesque. Later these same freshmen are rewarded 
by a dance given in their honor. 

During the rushing season, Kappa Chapter follows a somewhat invar¬ 
iable program. The more formal entertainment always includes an 
* 1 Illinois ’ ’ dinner, a 11 cabaret ’ ’ and a cotillion given on the Friday before 
pledge day. The chapter-house is the scene of the cabaret. Small tables 
are placed on the lawn and in the living-rooms. Between the courses the 
guests are entertained by music and feature dances. 

Another occasion enjoyed by the rushees as well as their hostesses is 
the afternoon at the Dunlap farm. Mrs. Dunlap, the wife of Senator 
Dunlap and an actively interested patroness, never fails to entertain the 
girls at their model farm, which is noted throughout Illinois. The drive 
is a pleasant one in the crisp September air, past the yellow harvest fields 
and fragrant, loaded fruit-trees. On the broad verandas the girls are 
served with cider, apples, grapes and doughnuts. 

But rushing is a brief playtime for the new members-to-be and after 
pledge day they are confronted with the need for serious endeavor. Re¬ 
minding them daily of attainment in scholarship, a large silver cup gleams 
on the mantelpiece, bearing the names of other girls who achieved good 
marks. Any pledge winning an average of 4.0 or above (equivalent to an 
average of B or 88) sees her name engraved on this cup. As in so many 
other instances, tradition has enshrouded this custom with significance and 
although the honor may seem slight at first to the new member it becomes 
at last symbolical of a genuine reward. 

The scholarship cup is not alone on the mantelpiece for Kappa Chapter 
has always been known on the campus for her interest in varied activities. 
For four years, since 1919, it has been a custom at Illinois to give a cup 
to the organized house achieving the most original and artistic Homecoming 
decorations. The girls have succeeded twice in decking their house with 
such a unique display of orange and blue that the judges have awarded 
them two different cups in this contest. Another cup was won in the 
Women’s Annual Stunt Show given during Interscholastic Week. 

As commencement draws near it is, of course, the seniors who are feted 
and honored. In the past it has been customary for one of the patronesses 
to entertain them at a tea and the house always gives them a picnic and 
a breakfast. In their caps and gowns the seniors take on a new dignity 


Lambda Chapter 


67 


and the undergraduates begin to wonder who can possibly fill their long- 
occupied places. Then too, it is that the seniors begin to think of their 
four-year home as the “old house” and to remember dances given in the 
long living-room, the confidences exchanged in front of the fireplace, the 
serenades heard on the high, narrow balcony, and prepare to say farewell 
to college life. 

LAMBDA CHAPTER, JACKSON COLLEGE 

Tau Epsilon Sigma was organized on December 9, 
1896 with four charter members. In its ten years of local 
life the fraternity made a permanent place for itself in 
the life of the college. With twenty-nine graduates in 
that time, three of its members represented the women 
students on the commencement platform, eight were 
elected to Phi Beta Kappa, nineteen won first honors and 
fifteen honorable mention. 

On March 8, 1907 Tau Epsilon Sigma was installed as 
Lambda Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. Mary Emily Kay, 
Gertrude E. Wright and Katherine Keith-Stamp, all of 
Gamma, conducted the ceremony which took place at the 
home of Ethel Fuller. Forty-five initiates entered the 
fraternity at this time. Twenty-five of them being 
alumnae, the Boston Alumnae Chapter was immediately 
organized. 

The charter members initiated from the college chap¬ 
ter were: Persis D. Hannah, Gertrude Johnson, Beatrice 
McFarland, Ethel Fuller, Emily Cate, Miriam Carleton, 
Marian Orne, Amy Richards, Eleanor Ladd, Irene Craw¬ 
ford, Nellie Kimball, Ethel Aiken, Annie McCoy, Geral¬ 
dine Douglass, Louise Smith, Beth Nash, Marie Wood, 
Helen Burnham, Katherine Cragin, and Estella Butter¬ 
field. 

In 1913 the college Panhellenic first observed its cus¬ 
tom of annually awarding a cup to the women’s frater¬ 
nity having the highest average rank in scholarship. 
Alpha Xi Delta was the initial recipient of the honor. 



Charter Members, Lambda Chapter 








Lambda Chapter 


69 


The determination of the Panhellenic Association to 
become more than a body which established rushing rules 
was again expressed in 1915. A study of Panhellenic 
literature was undertaken with the hope of discovering 
suggestions through which conditions might be improved. 
The first of a series of discussions was led by Bernice 
Cragin and Bernice Wood, both members of Lambda 
Chapter. Their subject was ‘ 1 The Relation of Local Pan- 
hellenics to the National Association. ’ ’ 

In 1918 Lambda Chapter with the Boston Alumnje 
Chapter was hostess to the national convention. Lambda 
proved itself both thoughtful and delightfully entertain¬ 
ing in the arrangements which were made for the social 
side of the convention. Automobile trips to nearby his¬ 
torical points were interspersed with a tea, the convention 
banquet and an original stunt show in which Upsilon 
Chapter assisted. 

The contributions made by the chapter to the life of 
the college have not been confined to its scholastic and 
social phases. In 1918 Dorothy McCoy was largely re¬ 
sponsible for the founding of the Intercollegiate Com¬ 
munity Service Association. The following year the 
unfailing enthusiasm of Dorothy Shaw was a determin¬ 
ing influence in the organization of the college branch of 
the Young Women’s Christian Association. The char¬ 
acter and ideals of these two organizations reveal also 
the character and ideals of a chapter which could produce 
girls capable of bringing them into being. 

In 1922 Tufts College held its campaign to raise a 
million dollar endowment fund. Jackson girls, who then 
numbered about one hundred sixty, pledged a total of 
$8,000. This amount was to be secured by their own 
efforts and not obtained as gifts from their fathers. Be¬ 
lieving their motives to be in sympathy with those which 
led to the founding of the fraternity, no banquet was held 
April 17 of that year. The usual banquet tax was 
donated to the endowment fund. In a similar manner, 
all of the fraternities gave up their spring dances, having 





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Mu Chapter 


71 


instead one common Panhellenic dance, the proceeds of 
which were added to the fund. Lambda Chapter and 
Boston Alumnae Chapter, acting together as a fraternity, 
subscribed five hundred dollars. Practically this entire 
amount had been raised within one year of its pledging. 

While many of its members had been interested in 
various phases of social service work their contributions 
of time and service had been made as individuals. In 
1923 Lambda Chapter, as an organization, became inter¬ 
ested in one of the Boston settlements and pledged a 
definite amount of sewing to it. 

MU CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 

The local fraternity, Lambda Beta, was installed as 
Mu Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta on May 24, 1907 by Ella 
Boston Leib, Alpha, and Mary Emily Kay, Gamma. The 
ceremony took place at the home of Mary Helson-Har- 
mon. The charter members of the chapter were: 
Myrtle Jones-Stevens, Vinnie Hitchings-Houston, Mina 
Schaetzel-Hitchings, Laura Benz-Ahern, Mary Shiely- 
Kenny, Clea Halvorson-Striegel, Grace Gilbert, Florence 
Jones-Turnquist, Fannie Gordinier-Landin, Dolly Hen- 
drickson-Harrocks and Marjorie Thompson-Rankin. 

A house was leased at once and the chapter had soon 
made it into a comfortable home. Determined to raise a 
house fund which would sometime permit the purchase or 
building of a chapter-house, finances were always planned 
with that end in view. 

In 1911 Mu Chapter presented a musical comedy, 
Cupid, Ph.D., which had been written by one of its 
own girls, Blanche Grand-Maitre. Miss Grand-Maitre 
had also compiled the songs for the production. The 
plot, which was clever and original, centered about the 
love affairs of Peter and Mary Featherbrain. The com¬ 
edy was successful financially as well as artistically. In 
recognition of the chapter’s enterprise and initiative, the 
alumnae doubled the money made through the venture, the 
entire amount being added to the house fund. 


72 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


Twice since, the chapter has repeated its musical suc¬ 
cess. In 1916, a revue, Fads and Fancies, was produced 
under the direction of Blanche Grand-Maitre and Edith 
Dampier. In 1922 the offering, WhaFs the Difference?, 
was a humorous satire of the fads and foibles of univer¬ 
sity life. 

The first of Mu Chapter’s annual bazaars was given 
in 1915. From this modest venture, held in the chapter- 
house, the bazaar has grown to he a far greater under¬ 
taking. It is now held in one of the city’s big hotels. The 
selling of attractive articles at the booths goes on all 
morning and afternoon. During the same hours bridge 
devotees sit at their tables in the interested silence, 
broken, only by the rustle of cards in the making, which 
marks the play of the game. In the evening booths and 
tables alike are deserted and saleswomen and customers 
are found instead in the ballroom. 

1920 was a triumphant year in the chapter history. 
Its long dream of owning its own home was realized in 
the purchase of a commodious, three-story house. In 1920 
Mu Chapter was hostess to the Tenth National Conven¬ 
tion. Its guests were entertained at beautiful Christmas 
Lake. There the work and fun of convention, combined 
with the scenic beauty of the lake and its offering of 
sports on land or in water, transformed the week into a 
glorious holiday. 

Each fall after the hurry of rushing season is over 
and the new members are growing into the ways of the 
chapter, a tea is given for the mothers of the girls. The 
freshmen serve as hostesses, thus giving their guests the 
opportunity of meeting them intimately and continuing 
unbroken the bonds of interest which bind together Mu 
Chapter and the mothers of its members. 

Christmas is celebrated with a party which is the tra¬ 
ditional chapter reunion. Alumnae and college girls 
gather together for a merry making which ends with a 
gift giving to the house instead of to each other. 



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74 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


Mu Chapter has incorporated into its routine the big 
sister movement as a means of helping its freshmen 
orient their university life. Each freshman has a par¬ 
ticular “big sister” in one of the older girls. To her she 
goes with her questions and perplexities, certain that she 
will receive sympathetic aid in whatever may puzzle or 
trouble her. 

Toward the close of each college year the alumnae 
chapter is hostess at a banquet, honoring the seniors. 
Thus those who have gone before them and those who 
come after them unite in saying farewell to the girls just 
leaving college life. 

NU CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON 

In the fall of 1905 several girls who were very dear 
friends organized the local fraternity, Sigma Alpha Sig¬ 
ma. Its existence was kept secret, though meetings were 
held every Monday evening at the home of one of the 
Seattle girls. Slowly and carefully the organization was 
built up, striving to maintain the standards required by 
a national organization. From the beginning the idea 
had been to secure a charter in one of the National Pan- 
hellenic fraternities. 

Early in the fall of 1907 Miss Madie Williman, then 
president of Sigma Alpha Sigma, met Miss Bessie Under¬ 
wood of Theta Chapter at a dinner given by Dr. Meisnest. 
Miss Underwood was a student at Washington Univer¬ 
sity at the time and she and Miss Williman continued to 
meet daily in a German class. The acquaintance so be¬ 
gun ripened into a friendship which grew to include all 
of the members of the local fraternity. So impressed 
were they with the charming personality, and true worth 
of their Alpha Xi Delta friend that they determined to 
petition for a charter in, the fraternity to which she be¬ 
longed. 

This petition was granted and Nu Chapter was in¬ 
stalled May 31, 1907 by Louise Singer-Maiken, Beta, and 


Nu Chapter 


75 


Mabel Spry, Beta, assisted by Miss Underwood, Theta. 
The ceremony took place at the home of Mrs. A. S. Kerry, 
a patroness. Hazel Estes, Lillian Esary, Elsie Wadding- 
ham, Pearl Gilkey, Ava Young, Ethel Latham, Mary 
Smith, May Chambers, Frances Sanborn, Magdalene 
Williman, Olive Mueller, Marion Schneider, Myrtle 
Parr, Margaret Harris and Lula Parker formed the 
original chapter. 

It is the custom of the faculty of the University of 
Washington to choose each year the three members of 
the Junior Class who stand highest in scholarship to be 
“Senior Scholars’ ’ during their last year in college. 
This honor entitles them to the privilege of non-attend¬ 
ance in class room, and enables them to do extra work, 
so obtaining their Master’s Degree at the same time as 
their Bachelor’s Degree. Adelaide Fischer, 1909, was 
so elected. Two years later Nu Chapter had a second 
“Senior Scholar” in Dorothy Mason, 1911, who grad¬ 
uated with Magna Cum Laude, being the fourth student 
to win this honor since the founding of the university in 
1862. 

In 1911 Nu Chapter moved into a rented house. With 
the passage of years it became inadequate for their use 
and in 1917 it was imperative that they find a different 
chapter home. Delta Tau Delta was then living in a new 
brick house. So many of their men had left for military 
service that it was impossible for the few remaining to 
maintain the house. The girls were glad to relieve them 
of this problem, solving at the same time their own 
housing troubles. They lived in this home until the 
Armistice at the close of the World War released the 
men to their studies once more. 

Nu Chapter is incorporated under the laws of the 
State of Washington. This corporation takes the place 
of a house fund. After initiation each girl signs ten 
bonds for twelve dollars each, payable within ten years 
from that date. With the payment of the first of these 
bonds she becomes a member of the corporation and is 



y 


Charter Members, Nu Chapter 

First row, left to right: Margaret Harris, Ava Zetta Young, Elsie Waddingham, Lillian Esary, Hazel Estes. 
Second row: Olive Mueller, Marion Schneider, Pearl Gilkey, Frances Sanborn, Magdalene Williman. 






Nu Chapter 


77 


entitled to attend its meetings. The object of the cor¬ 
poration is the building of a chapter home for Nu. 

Many interesting customs have grown with the pass¬ 
ing years. The initiation ceremony is always held on a 
Sunday morning. Following it a spread is given in 
honor of the new members who are served by the sopho¬ 
mores. The mothers of the girls formed a 1 ‘ Mothers' 
Club '' at the request of the chapter in order that it might 
benefit from their practical advice in the many problems 
which arise in fraternity house life. Not only is the 
fraternity strengthened by this close association with 
their mothers, they also give a yearly “Fathers' Dinner” 
in order to bring their fathers into real contact with the 
fraternity life of their daughters. 

Christmas time is always celebrated with a Christmas 
party and a towering Christmas tree. The gifts, instead 
of being for each other, are for the house. The Yuletide 
brings with it the desire to brighten the lives of others. 
Nu Chapter has chosen children to be the recipients of 
its heart gifts. Archie Johnson, a sturdy, freckle-faced 
little orphan was supported for a year to safely bridge 
his life until other arrangements for him were made. 
During the war a French War Orphan was so truly 
adopted that the interest has not been allowed to dis¬ 
appear with time, and letters still go to and fro between 
the chapter and the little girl's mother. The gayest of 
giving to children is the doll delivery made to the differ¬ 
ent children's homes in Seattle at Christmas time. Then 
every little girl adds one more treasured child to her 
scanty family. 

Founders' Day is observed with a banquet, both college 
and alumnae chapters attending. In connection with this 
banquet custom prescribes a rite eagerly awaited by the 
freshmen. Every engaged girl in the chapter must run 
once around the table. 

Late in the spring quarter a senior breakfast is given 
on some Sunday. Here engagements are announced, 
toasts, speeches and prophecies are given by the speakers 


78 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

from the different classes. The seniors present their 
farewell gift to the chapter-house which has been home 
for so long and happy a time. This breakfast is attended 
by the college chapter only. 

Almost monthly a pickle mix is shared with the 
alumnae for the co-operation and friendship between the 
college and alumnae chapter is close. 

It is the custom of the chapter to require the house¬ 
work to be done by the underclassmen. Morning call 
for them is at 6:30 and for the upperclassmen at 7:00. 
The house must be straightened and in order by 7:30 
when breakfast is served. 

Difficult as is the adaptation to college life for the 
average freshman, it is still more difficult for one not 
even familiar with American customs. The University 
of Washington has many Canadian students. In 1922 
Gertrude Bryce, herself a Canadian, determined to make 
the way easier for them. Working with several mem¬ 
bers of the faculty she organized a Canadian Club. So 
successful was this project that in the fall of 1922 an 
organized house was opened by the Canadian Club offer¬ 
ing to the homesick Canadian girl a home with her coun¬ 
try women and help over the difficult period of readjust¬ 
ment required by changed surroundings. 

XI CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY 

The local fraternity, Psi, was founded in the fall of 
1904. For some months it was merely a congenial crowd 
of friends. In January, 1905, a charter was obtained 
from the faculty, and a formal organization took place. 
Psi was installed as Xi Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta on 
September 11, 1908. Martha Hutchings-McKean, Eta, 
and Mary Emily Kay, Gamma, presided at the ceremony. 
The installation service took place late at night in the 
chapter room in the women’s dormitory. The charter 
members were: Anna and Elizabeth Wallis, Nell Wallis- 
Delong; Lida Jones-Atkins; Margaret Jane Wanless, 


*?!!" ! »*"' !j 


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* 






Charter Members, Xi Chapter 

First row, left to right: Anne Simrall, Lillian Ferguson Proctor, Eva May Nunnelly, Mary Lackridge, Cattell Gregory. 
Second row: Margaret Wanless, Nell Wallis Delong, Elizabeth Wallis, Lida Jones Atkins, Anna Wallis. 
































80 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Anne Simrall, Lillian, Ferguson-Proctor, Eva May Nun- 
nellv, Mary Lackridge and Cattell Gregory. 

Student government was first introduced in the Uni¬ 
versity of Kentucky in 1912. The experiment was re¬ 
luctantly sanctioned by those in authority, for chaos was 
feared to be the inevitable result of so far a departure 
from tradition. All of the Greek-letter societies worked 
earnestly to insure its trial. Addie Dean was particu¬ 
larly prominent in the movement, being one of the mem¬ 
bers of the first Board of Control which so successfully 
inaugurated the new order of government. A few years 
later Mildred Graham served as president of the Board 
of Control, an office which had become the most respon¬ 
sible of those held by students. 

After holding its meetings at the homes of its mem¬ 
bers for a number of years, Xi Chapter rented^ and fur¬ 
nished two rooms for its use in 1919. It was not until 
1921 that the faculty restrictions prohibiting women’s 
fraternities from living in houses were removed. The 
overcrowded conditions in the women’s dormitory made 
this necessary as a possible aid in solving the student 
housing problem. Xi Chapter rented and moved into the 
home which it now occupies as soon as the restrictions 
were rescinded. It is the plan of the University of Ken¬ 
tucky to ultimately have separate homes for its women 
fraternities upon the campus and until this can be accom¬ 
plished all are living in rented houses. 

Rivalry in scholarship is keen between the frater¬ 
nities. The College Panhellenic awards its scholarship 
cup each year to the chapter which has the highest aver¬ 
age rank. In 1919 Xi Chapter held the cup for the year. 

The social service work of the chapter has been chosen 
for the benefit of children. During the warmer months 
of the year the girls serve as volunteer directors in the 
playgrounds of the poorer sections of Lexington. In the 
winter time they help with the classes in a community 
settlement house. Gifts of money and clothing have been 
made to the Pine Mountain Settlement School, one of 


Omicron Chapter 


81 


the means through which Kentucky is attempting to reach 
and educate her mountain people. In 1922-23 Xi Chapter 
assumed financial responsibility for the care of a little 
orphan girl and looks forward to the pleasure of helping 
her for some time to come. 

Kealizing that every year a number of students were 
compelled to give up the hope of returning to the univer¬ 
sity and finishing their studies because of lack of money, 
the students themselves determined to afford a means of 
help. An endowed Student Loan Fund was their goal. 
Xi Chapter worked steadfastly in this cause and con¬ 
tributed to it one hundred dollars. 

Xi Chapter, assisted by the Lexington Alumnae Chap¬ 
ter, entertained the Grand Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta 
June 26-July 1, 1922. Then, for the first time, the fra¬ 
ternity convention met in the south. Delegates and 
Visitors carried away with them the sense of an ideal 
realized. They had experienced southern hospitality in 
all the fineness of its old traditions. 

The loyalty of Xi Chapter to the university was shown 
in its active participation in the campaign for funds for 
the stadium, held in 1923. Alpha Xi Delta was one of 
the two women’s fraternities with one hundred per cent 
of their membership pledging twenty-five dollars apiece 
to this cause. 

OMICRON CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 

On October 3, 1906, twelve girls organized a club 
which leased a house the following spring. It was known 
at first as the University House Club. Later it adopted 
the name of Dal Riada and was recognized as a frater¬ 
nity, being invited to join the university Panhellenic as¬ 
sociation. 

Dal Riada was installed as Omicron Chapter of Alpha 
Xi Delta on April 5, 1909 by Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha, 
assisted by Bertha Comstock-Toy, Lambda, of Alameda, 



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Omicron Chapter 83 

and Beth Nash, Lambda, then a senior at Leland Stan¬ 
ford University. 

The charter members of Omicron Chapter were: 
Mabel Panlsen-Van Patten, Elsa Dietrich-Martin, Lorena 
McCall-Vorhies, Genevieve Tonhey-Kwapil, Mary Hets- 
chel, M. Olive Johnson, Agnes Rae-Stewart, Inez McCall- 
Russell, Rnth Risdon-Storer, Edna Pracy-Edwards, 
Genevieve Hoey-Perrier, Miriam Caldwell-Burd, Velma 
Shartle-Powell, Edna Higgins-Strachan, Edna Sugget- 
Wisecarver, Meta Parks-Messick, Edith Grey-Halliwell, 
Bernice Carpenter-Stedman, Cora Thompson-Rochester, 
Elizabeth Kedrolivansky, Katherine Van der Vort- 
Dittemore. 

In its campaign for high scholarship among frater¬ 
nity women the university Panhellenic has been able to 
develop so strong a sentiment against low ratings that 
poor scholarship is felt as an actual handicap in rushing 
on the California campus. In 1915 Omicron began her 
system of using her senior members as a scholarship 
committee. On every Monday evening a certain number 
of girls take to each senior the reports of their marks 
and cuts for the past week. If she is troubled by any 
difficulties which have developed in her work, she advises 
with her senior committeeman and some method is de¬ 
cided upon whereby her troubles are ended. This plan 
has worked to the advantage of the chapter and has 
proven valuable in aiding to maintain a high standard. 

In 1915 Omicron Chapter was hostess to the Eighth 
Convention. At the time when the San Francisco Ex¬ 
position was luring all travelers westward, Omicron 
added the supreme inducement of its own hospitality for 
Alpha Xi Deltas. The trip about San Francisco Bay on 
the tug boat, shut out from sight of land by a real sea 
fog, provided a life memory for the inland guests. 

In 1917 another duty was added to those of the senior 
members of Omicron Chapter. Each freshman was as¬ 
signed a senior girl as her special adviser; a friend to 
whom she might take her intimate troubles and with 



Campus Scenes, University of California 











Pi Chapter 


85 


whom she might discuss the many difficulties which arise 
in the life of a freshman adjusting herself to the ways 
of a great university. 

Omicron Chapter ceased to rent and purchased its 
own home in 1919. A roomy, three-storied house stands 
well to the front of a large lot. Here the college girls 
are accommodated. A smaller six-room house stands on 
the rear of the land. This house has afforded a conven¬ 
ient home for a number of the alumnae who enjoy being 
so close to the college chapter. 

A Christmas bazaar has long been one of the chapter’s 
annually observed customs. The San Francisco Alumnae 
Chapter assists with the work, assuming the respons¬ 
ibility of management. The sale of dainty articles, aided 
by many ingenious ways of attracting money to their 
coffers, adds a substantial sum to the chapter treasury 
each year. 

A mothers’ club has been formed of the mothers of 
the members of Omicron Chapter. It holds regular meet¬ 
ings in the chapter-house and has given a number of 
bridge-benefits for the chapter-house fund. The mothers’ 
club also helps with the Christmas bazaar. The co¬ 
operation between the club and the college chapter is 
intimate. 

The social service work which has appealed most to 
the girls of Omicron Chapter has been the instruction of 
classes in the settlement house in Berkeley. 

PI CHAPTER, OHIO UNIVERSITY 

With the impetus given the growth of Ohio University 
during the presidency of Dr. Alston Ellis, the student 
body doubled in number between 1900 and 1910. Feeling 
that such a condition made feasible the presence of 
another fraternity, seven girls organized the local, Gam¬ 
ma Alpha Theta, on May 20,1909. Having from the first, 
the intention of petitioning a national fraternity as soon 
as their growth justified it, they met as nearly as possible 


86 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


the standards of a national fraternity. Upon the organi¬ 
zation of the college Panliellenic at Ohio University in 
1911, Gamma Alpha Theta was the only local chapter ad¬ 
mitted to membership. 

Correspondence was begun with Alpha Xi Delta in 
November, 1909. The Grand Secretary, Mrs. Ruth 
Sibley-Haskell, Lambda, visited the girls in 1910, and in 
February, 1911, the formal petitions were mailed. In¬ 
stallation of Gamma Alpha Theta as Pi Chapter of Alpha 
Xi Delta took place on April 28, 1911 at the home of Dr. 
and Mrs. Ellson. Miss Mary Kay, Grand President, and 
Mrs. Haskell presided, assisted by Mary Pelly, Hazel 
Purcell and Freda Spring, all of Gamma Chapter. The 
girls initiated as charter members were: Virginia Cris- 
senberry, Ethel Crissenberry, Elizabeth Sanzenbacher, 
Berenice Chute, Marian Brakin, Mary Warrener, Mar¬ 
garet Wark, Key Wenrick, Lura Pelley, Margaret Davis, 
Hazel Rigby, Ethel Radcliffe, Nelle Scott, Mary Kiser, 
Millie Gaffner, Hazel Reed and Elizabeth Morris. 

The policy of the university does not permit houses 
for the women’s fraternities. In West Wing, a pictur¬ 
esque building of early date in the university history, each 
chapter is given a room for their use as a fraternity hall 
for chapter meetings and informal spreads. Here Pi 
Chapter has a large airy room opening on a tree-shaded 
porch which overlooks the campus. 

Until 1913 Ohio University had no general honorary 
society. The need was felt keenly for a society which 
would at once stimulate the present student to her best 
and preserve the traditions and accomplishments of those 
who had already gone out from the university. The 
foundation of such an organization in Cresset was due in 
no small part to the influence of Virginia Crisenberry- 
Harding. Membership in Cresset has come to be the 
highest honor which a woman can win while in Ohio Uni¬ 
versity. Election to it is based upon scholarship, ac¬ 
tivities and personality. Speaking of it Miss Irma E. 
Voigt, Dean of Women, says: 


Pi Chapter 


87 


“Cresset stands for what we deem best, not only during college days, 
but what we deem most in accord with the ideal of a well trained college 
woman in any community. The organization is more than a local Phi Beta 
Kappa in that attitude and activity play equal parts in determining 
election. The number is limited to fifteen, but the fact that we have 
never had to consider expanding the number shows that our standards fore¬ 
stall any such measure.” 

In ten years since its organization, Pi Chapter has 
had twelve Crescent members: Virginia Crissenberry- 



Corner of Pi’s Chapter Hall 

Harding, Helen Willis-Lynn, Christine Law-Nye, Effie 
Hedges-Cooperrider, Olive Robens-Ridge, Cora Mast- 
Baker, Rose Unkefer-Parr, Irene Aber, Grace Barker, 
Edith Stockline, Zoe Brnndage, and Panline M alden. 

Each fall within a week after pledging the active 
members entertain for their freshmen with a “Rose 
Dinner.’ ’ The compliment is shortly returned when the 
pledges give the active chapter a “prep party’’ featnr- 






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Pi Chapter 


89 


ing a program whose numbers are given by the pledges 
themselves. The entertainment is so varied from year to 
year that the girls look forward to it with eager specula¬ 
tion. The pledges are presented to the patronesses at a 
tea or musical. A program is arranged in which the new 
girls take part, so that the honor guests may more easily 
learn to know them. 

Christmas is celebrated with a real Christmas party, 
a Christmas tree and all that goes with it. Simple gifts 
are exchanged among the girls and the evening ends with 
the gaiety of a nonsensical grab-bag. 

Founders ’ Day is-observed with a banquet or a formal 
dinner. Here thoughts travel again over the years of 
Alpha Xi Delta and linger with its ideals and traditions. 
The banquet ends with a serenade of the men’s frater¬ 
nity houses and the women’s dormitories. Alpha Xi 
Delta songs are sung, parodies with touches of local in¬ 
terest, songs of the fraternity being serenaded, but it is 
always the melody of the Evening Song which fades 
away in the distance as the serenading party moves away. 

The last dance of the year is a “Rose Dance.” This 
is the custom dearest to the hearts of the old girls and it 
is at this time that they try to come back. Weeks before 
the date the girls begin to make paper roses, and with 
the thousands of pink petalled, green-stemmed blossoms 
which they have fashioned the great ballroom is trans¬ 
formed into a rose bower. 

In 1922 the university’s humorous monthly, The 
Green Goat, was revived after a lapse of ten years. Its 
reappearance was very largely due to the enthusiasm of 
Fern Falloon, one of its co-editors. Five numbers were 
published before the close of the year and so successful 
was the venture that it was accepted as an established 
part of the college life.. Office space was awarded it in 
East Wing, and a faculty committee was appointed to 
consider nominations for the editorship for the following 
year. 

Athens, the seat of Ohio University, is the center of 


90 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

a region of small coal mines. Many of Pi’s girls, work¬ 
ing in connection with the Y. W. C. A., do social service 
work in the near-by mining villages. Aiding in programs 
and entertainments, they share of themselves in order to 
brighten a little lives which are dull and colorless as the 
mineral whose mining dominates them. Other of the 
girls give their Saturday or their Sunday afternoon to go 
to the county Children’s Home and tell the stories to 
which the children look forward so .eagerly. 

In 1922 the students and alumnae of Ohio University 
erected a great auditorium building, built in honor of the 
Ohio students who had taken part in the wars of our 
country, the Revolution, Mexican, Civil, Spanish Amer¬ 
ican and the World War. In the campaign for funds Pi 
Chapter was the first of the Greek-letter organizations to 
have every member pledge a contribution and the only 
fraternity chapter, either men or women, who gave as 
an organization in addition to a one hundred per cent 
membership pledge. The willingness to sacrifice for the 
good of its alma mater and for the love of the university 
which shelters it extends into all the relations which exist 
between the chapter and the institution. 

At its Christmas party, in 1922, Pi Chapter received 
a beautiful silver cup as a gift from Donna Tebay, an 
alumna. While in college Donna Tebay had felt the need 
of a scholarship cup to be held by the chapter as an in¬ 
centive to its members and she now made up that lack. 
According to her wish, the name of that girl in the chap¬ 
ter who makes the highest average will be engraved each 
year upon the cup. 

Pi Chapter exerts a beneficent influence in the move¬ 
ment which insists upon thorough scholarship among fra¬ 
ternity women. It requires previous to the initiation of 
its pledges fifteen hours passed with an average equival¬ 
ent to eighty-five. This is the highest standard main¬ 
tained by any women’s fraternity at Ohio University. 


Rho Chapter 


91 


RHO CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA 

Rho Chapter first lived in the mind of Mildred Daniels, 
whose mother had been a member of Chapter S of P.E.O., 
which afterward became Beta Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. 
Assisted and advised by Lnlu Rnnge, Theta, the local 
fraternity was organized. On June 5, 1912, Rho Chap¬ 
ter was installed at the home of Mildred Bevins-Haley. 
The ceremony was conducted by Lena Grandin Baldwin 
and Anna Miller-Knote assisted by Lulu Runge, Theta 
and Joy Schreekengast-Jones, Beta. The charter mem¬ 
bers were: Maurine Hetzler-Kellner, Ruth Hyder Gregg, 
Mildred Daniels-Davis, Bertha Ehlers, Hazel Robinson- 
Yager, Evelyn Doobs, Beatrice Longtin-Dobbs, Christina 
Claussen, Celia Malone-Gearing, Mildred Bevins-Haley, 
Goldie Munson-Patrick, and Isabel Coons-Gillespie. 

In 1912-13 Rho Chapter moved into a house. It has 
tried to make this house a means of service to the univer¬ 
sity by opening it for the meetings of various campus 
organizations. The chapter’s house fund has reached a 
figure which sanctions its plan to build within the next 
two years. 

In 1916 the seniors left as their farewell gift to the 
chapter a loving cup which is awarded each year to the 
freshman whose scholastic rank has been highest. 

A new and worthwhile custom at the University of 
Nebraska was originated when Rho Chapter formed its 
“Lincoln Mothers’ Club.” The older, interested women 
are thus brought into intimate association with the chap¬ 
ter which profits by their experienced advice in the many 
questions which arise in the conduct of a fraternity 
house. 

Each Christmas a tree is set up in the house and 
transformed with shimmering tinsel and many gifts. 
Children for whom their homes hold no Christmas are 
invited and the evening made gay with games and gifts 
for them. 

Founders’ Day is observed with a banquet at which 



Charter Members, Rho Chapter 










Sigma Chapter 


93 


the spirit and ideals of Alpha Xi Delta reveal themselves 
in the toasts and speeches. The second banquet of the 
year is given as a farewell honor to the seniors who are 
turning their faces away from university and chapter 
life toward the life of the world. 

SIGMA CHAPTER, IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY 

The local fraternity, Delta Rho, was founded in the 
fall of 1911. At first it was merely an informal organi¬ 
zation of a group of friends, most of whom lived in the 
same house. The idea of petitioning Alpha Xi Delta for 
a charter soon arose and with this in mind the girls 
slowly added to their number. After correspondence 
with the. fraternity, the local chapter was visited by Lena 
Grandin Baldwin, Eta, and a formal petition issued in 
1912. On June 12 of that year Sigma Chapter was in¬ 
stalled by Miss Baldwin and Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta. 
They were assisted by Helen and Margaret Miller, Epsi¬ 
lon, and Mabel Lover, Beta. The ceremony took place 
in the home of Helen Waldron-Latham. The girls init¬ 
iated then were: Helen Waldron-Latham, Hannah Pee¬ 
bles, Ruby Martin-Pemberton, Hazel Ranck-Snell, Mil¬ 
dred Yule-Phelps, Amy Purvis-Issac, Ruth McGuire, 
Anna Van der Zee-Holmes, Helen Silsbee-Smith and 
Clara Sherman. 

In 1916 Sigma Chapter moved into a spacious, three¬ 
storied brick house which was admirably adapted to fra¬ 
ternity life. This house served as the chapter home until 
1923 when the one now occupied was purchased. 

Sigma Chapter considers high scholarship of primary 
importance. Delinquent slips are sent by instructors, 
through the office of the dean of women, to those stu¬ 
dents who are below the required average in any sub¬ 
ject. The fraternity withdraws dating privileges for two 
weeks from those of its members who receive delinquent 
slips. The penalty includes week-ends but makes excep¬ 
tions of formal dates. The length of the restricted period 



« 





Charter Members, Sigma Chapter 































Sigma Chapter 


95 


can be shortened only, by securing a written statement 
from the complaining instructor saying that he is again 
receiving satisfactory work. 

At the beginning of each college year house rules are 
drawn up and presented at fraternity meeting for con¬ 
sideration and discussion, being finally agreed upon there. 
Quiet hours prevail on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 
and Thursday evenings from 8:00 until 10:00 o’clock p. m. 
and from 10:30 p. m. until 7:00 o’clock a.m. On Sunday 
mornings quietness continues until 9:00 o’clock a. m. 
Study hour rules require that each girl shall be in her 
own room. 

In order to create greater interest in campus activities 
Sigma Chapter adopted the point system and has ad¬ 
hered closely to it. A fixed number of points is given for 
holding offices in or serving upon committees for specific 
organizations, for attending meetings and lectures, for 
taking part in all the various activities which go to make 
up student life in a great university. Reports of the 
number of points earned are given at every other frater¬ 
nity meeting. The number of activity points required by 
the fraternity of each of its members varies according to 
their university classification. Earning the required 
points is considered a matter of personal honor. 

Desiring to help its freshmen and new members in ad¬ 
justing themselves to their new environment, the sponsor 
system was adopted by Sigma Chapter in 1918. Each 
pledge has as her sponsor some capable upperclass 
woman, appointed by the chapter president. The duty 
of the sponsor is helping the pledge in her scholastic 
work, university activities, social life and in any other 
way which circumstances may make possible. 

The chief social service work of Sigma Chapter cen¬ 
ters about the crippled children in Perkin’s Hospital. 
The girls assist in teaching and entertaining the little 
patients, filling with interest many an hour otherwise 
tediously empty. 

Members of the faculty are chapter guests at dinner 
on Sundays. The girls are privileged to propose the 


96 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

names of those faculty members whom they desire as 
guests. Sigma Chapter is unique on Iowa’s campus in 
entertaining each year at a faculty tea, usually given on 
a Saturday afternoon. In 1922 an alumna, Anne Bierce, 
a gifted musician, was presented in recital at a musical 
tea. She was assisted by two friends in the department 
of music at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa. The 
association outside of the classroom with professors and 
instructors which these customs induce is of real value in 
a university whose size renders difficult the individual 
and personal contact between professor and student. 

It is customary at the state university of Iowa for the 
women’s fraternities to. entertain at ‘ 4 open house” at 
the beginning of each college year. Invitations are sent 
to every men’s fraternity on the campus. Sigma Chapter 
keeps a register in which each man who calls at open 
house writes his name, fraternity, date and some witty 
comment. This book is a particularly interesting source 
of reminiscence. 

The pledges of Alpha Xi Delta each year entertain the 
pledges of the other women’s fraternities at a tea. A 
tea is also given, honoring the chapter chaperon, at which 
the other fraternity chaperons and the fraternity presi¬ 
dents are the guests. 

Two especially pleasing customs are the provision 
each week of flowers for the dining-room table by two of 
the girls living in the house and the announcement of 
engagements by the gift of a five-pound box of candy sent 
to the chapter by the fortunate man who has just won the 
promise of his happiness. 

Each year the Y. W.-Y. M. C. A. give an all-university 
festival known as Iowawa. A feature of the festival is 
the fraternity parade. Each women’s fraternity dec¬ 
orates and enters a float in it in the effort to win the 
loving cup which is offered as a prize for the most orig¬ 
inal and artistic. The award of the cup for three suc¬ 
cessive times to the same fraternity would carry with it 
permanent ownership. A spirit of keen rivalry is aroused 


Tau Chapter 


97 


by this event and yet it carries with it the co-operation of 
all the fraternities to make successful a university project 
sponsored by organizations which represent the religious 
element of student life. 

TAU CHAPTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE COLLEGE 

Through the influence of Mary Dole, Lambda, who 
was then a student at New Hampshire State College, a 
local fraternity, Phi Delta, was founded in 1913. Work¬ 
ing enthusiastically with Miss Dole was her roommate, 
Nellie White. Six other girls were interested in the plan 
of petitioning for a charter in Alpha Xi Delta and the 
local was formally organized. 

Tau Chapter was installed on the evening of Septem¬ 
ber 25, 1914. Ruth Sibley-Haskell, Lambda, and Bertha 
Shepard, Lambda, presided at the ceremony which took 
place in one of the rooms of Thompson Hall. Assisting 
the installing officers were seven girls from Lambda 
Chapter and Boston Alumnae. Lambda Chapter, so long 
Alpha Xi Delta’s only New England representative, had 
been particularly interested in the success of Tau Chap¬ 
ter and the event was a joyful one for the Massachusetts 
girls. The chapter installed was composed of: Alice 
Coffin, Nellie White, Phyllis Blanchard, Lon Crandall, 
Beatrice Fall, Melissa Cilley, and Marion Gilson. 

Believing that there was sufficient earnest interest in 
poetry to support a club for its study, Phyllis Blanchard 
founded “Book and Scroll” and was for two years its 
president. Many of the poems which she wrote during 
this time appeared in The Alpha Xi Delta. The poetic 
interest aroused was so enduring that “Book and Scroll” 
developed into a honorary fraternity, membership in 
which is greatly prized. 

From the moment of its inception, Tau Chapter has 
been an influence working for higher scholarship, not 
alone among its own members, but among all the women 



Charter Members, Tau Chapter 









Campus Scenes, New Hampshire State College 













100 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

of the college. In 1915 it presented a silver loving cup 
to the college Panhellenic association. This cup was to 
be awarded each year to the women’s fraternity having 
the highest average standing in scholarship. Tau Chap¬ 
ter was the first of the fraternities to hold the cup, win¬ 
ning it the first year it was presented for competition 
and continuing to do so, with but two exceptions thus far, 
each year afterward. 

Natalie Ewer-Graham was a devotee and student of 
interpretative dancing. Yielding to the desire to express 
the inner meaning which she had found in her fraternity 
life, she created an Alpha Xi Delta dance, “The Soul of 
the Rose.” She danced it for the first time at a rushing 
party given in 1917 and made memorable by the living 
beauty of this new evidence of love for the fraternity. 

One of Tau Chapter’s customs which arouses a great 
deal of interest during the year is the annual entertain¬ 
ment by each class of the other members of the chapter. 
Great variety is offered in the amusement provided and 
each original conception which adds to the store of treas¬ 
ured chapter memories is greeted with delight. 

The chapter is particularly proud of two of its 
alumnae, Melissa Cilley and Alice Kemp, who are teaching 
school in Barcelona, Spain. 

The members of Tau Chapter have won many high 
collegiate honors and held responsible positions in all of 
the campus organizations at New Hampshire. Through 
their exemplification of its teachings and ideals Alpha Xi 
Delta has come to be a vital force in the life of the college. 

UPSILON CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT 

The suggestion to a group of friends that another 
national fraternity chapter was needed at Vermont, re¬ 
sulted in the organization of a local fraternity, Alpha 
Sigma, founded by ten girls on June 10, 1914. Through 
the influence of Avis Keir, Lambda, correspondence with 
Alpha Xi Delta was begun. 



Charter Members, Upsilon Chapter 













102 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Upsilon Chapter was installed February 15, 1915, by 
Ruth Sibley-Haskell, Lambda, and Bertha Shepard, 
Lambda, assisted by Edith Bradford, Lambda, and two 
delegates from Boston Alumnae Chapter. The ceremony 
took place at the home of Irene Ballou. Martha O’Neil, 
Hazel McCuen, Alma Holton, Irene Ballou, Augustine La 
Rochelle, Laura Porter, Marion Walker, Madeline Tay¬ 
lor and Mary Conway were initiated at that time. 

For several years chapter meetings were held at the 
homes of the girls who lived in Burlington, but in 1917 
a pleasant apartment of two furnished rooms was rented. 
A piano was purchased and the chapter began to savor 
the pleasure of having its own home. In 1922 the faculty 
ruling which had prohibited houses to the women’s fra¬ 
ternities was removed. Upsilon Chapter moved into a 
house at the beginning of the year 1922-23 and is looking 
forward to the owning of a house. 

The scholarship of the chapter has been consistently 
high. The standard which it set for itself was revealed 
when in the year of its installation, Upsilon Chapter was 
awarded the Mabel Nelson Jacob’s Cup. This cup was 
presented for competition in scholastic standing among 
all the fraternity chapters, both men and women, and is 
awarded to the chapter with the highest average standing. 

With the exception of but two years since its installa¬ 
tion, every class graduated has had among its members 
an Alpha Xi Delta who was also a Phi Beta Kappa. In 
1916 each of the senior members of Tau Chapter made 
Phi Beta Kappa, Augustine La Rochelle having the high¬ 
est average attained up to that time by any student in the 
history of the university. Her work had totaled fifty As 
and one B during the four years. Twice since Tau 
Chapter has claimed the valedictory, Pearl Snodgrass 
winning it in 1920 and Dorothy French in 1922. 

Tau Chapter has been a vital influence in the life of 
the university. It was among the organizations which 
actively favored the introduction of student government. 
Blanche Albert-Miller, one of its members, was the first 



Campus Scenes, University op Vermont 












104 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

president of the Students’ Union, the women’s governing 
body. She was also one of the two girls selected to unveil 
the statue of Ira Allen at the services honoring him as 
the university’s founder which were held during com¬ 
mencement week in 1922. 

A keen interest in dramatic expression and the study 
of dramatic literature led Gladys Gleason Brooks and 
Martha O’Neil to attempt to make it a real and perma¬ 
nent influence in student life at the University of Ver¬ 
mont. Through their endeavors Masque and Sandal, a 
dramatic honorary society was organized. The two 
founders served as its first president and secretary. At 
a time when America is experiencing an awakening of 
interest in things dramatic the influence of such a society 
can aid materially in the transformation of the theater 
and its plays from a professional interest for a few 
people into a force which penetrates intimately into the 
lives of all. 

Its interest in child welfare has led the chapter to 
confine its social service work to efforts which will either 
afford pleasure or give benefit to children. Many of the 
girls teach classes in the Sunday School at the Orphan’s 
Home, offering their personalities as a medium through 
which the glory of God and His love may enter homeless 
lives. Christmas is made more of a joyous occasion by 
sharing its happiness with a number of needy children 
who otherwise had had no evidence of the Yuletide spirit. 

An experiment in co-operative management made by 
six Alpha Xi Deltas in 1922-23 attracted attention in edu¬ 
cational circles. An apartment was rented with kitchen 
privileges. Three squads of two members each were 
formed. In turn each squad cooked, washed dishes and 
cleaned the kitchen or cared for the rest of the apartment 
for one week. The work so divided bore heavily upon no 
one. At a time when high food prices were distressing 
the entire nation, these girls boarded themselves at a 
cost of two dollars a week, saving five dollars a week as 
compared with the cost of food at the dormitories. An 


Phi Chapter 


105 


experiment offering a solution to the problem of high 
prices, carried on successfully week by week, is one more 
influence at work to open yet further the entrance door 
to collegiate education: that door which ought to swing 
wide enough that limited funds should be no bar if 
coupled with them are ambition and the willingness to 
work. 


PHI CHAPTER, ALBION COLLEGE 

The Pierian Club was organized in February, 1906, 
with a membership of ten girls. While it put stress upon 
its literary aspect and did not take a Greek name, it was 
to all purposes a fraternity, holding weekly meetings and 
carrying on the usual fraternity functions. 

Mrs. Alta Allen-Loud, Grand President of Alpha Chi 
Omega, was at that time a resident of Albion. She be¬ 
lieved that the college offered an opportunity for another 
national fraternity chapter and suggested to the girls 
that Pierian petition for a charter as a chapter of Alpha 
Xi Delta. Her suggestion being accepted, Mrs. Loud 
gave freely of her help and advice which long fraternity 
experience had made invaluable. 

Phi Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta was installed Decem¬ 
ber 3, 1915, by Lena Grandin Baldwin, assisted by Polly 
Fenton, Theta, and Ethel Winterfield, Sigma. The chap¬ 
ter’s charter members were: Bess Duffey; Bertha Van 
Tuyl-Lone; Clara Nettell-Crete; Edna Watson-Holtz; 
Lucille Ball-Bridgeman; Esther Turnell; Madena Hub¬ 
bard; Cecily Davis; Nina Crowley; Lelah Lisk-Waitte; 
Florence Coombe-Gates, and Maude Warren-Lubbs. 
Alumnae members initiated during the installation serv¬ 
ice were: Lela Jane Taylor; Jean Tyndall; Bess Ruther- 
ford-Cooper; Alta McCombs; Viva Allen-Riker; Luzette 
Gambee-Mock, and Ethel Baker. The ceremony took 
place in the Alpha Chi Omega Lodge which had been gen¬ 
erously offered for this use. Beta Chapter of Alpha Chi 
Omega and Zeta Chapter of Delta Gamma entertained at 



Campus Scenes, Albion College 




























Phi Chapter 


107 


teas in honor of the newly installed chapter. Mrs. Loud 
gave a luncheon, honoring the visiting officers, and having 
as her guests representatives from the three women’s 
fraternities. 

Fraternity houses are not permitted the women by 
the college policy. In 1916 gifts from the alumnae made 
it possible for Phi Chapter to purchase an attractive lodge 
which stands upon the campus. Glowing logs in its great 
fireplace tempt to delicious open fire cookery for informal 
spreads. The roomy living-room is large enough to wel¬ 
come at one time both the numerous alumnae who return 
for initiation and the pledges who are taking the vows of 
Alpha Xi Delta. 

The Gordon scholarship cup, which was offered for 
competition among the women’s fraternities, carried with 
it the condition of being held permanently if awarded for 
three consecutive times to the same chapter. In 1917 
Phi Chapter won it twice, only to lose it. In 1919, how¬ 
ever, the donor’s requirements were fulfilled and the cup 
remained in its place on the mantel, never again to leave. 

Phi Chapter then offered a cup to be competed for by 
the women’s fraternities, under the same conditions. 
This cup was named the Mildred Chappell Memorial Cup 
in honor of a girl who had been pledged to the chapter 
at the time of its installation in Alpha Xi Delta and who 
had died soon afterward. 

The social service work of the chapter is done in the 
foreign district of Albion. The chapter divides itself 
into a number of teams, each taking turns in supervising 
the playground on Saturday afternoons. In addition to 
the playground work, a number of the girls have come 
into close contact with the Americanization problem and 
the difficulties of those not native born through the teach¬ 
ing of plain sewing to foreign mothers. 

The members of Phi Chapter take part each spring 
in a custom annually observed at Albion College by the 
Y. W. C. A. All of the girl students go out to the green 
meadows and the shaded river banks where great, long- 


I 


% 











US 


Charter Members, Phi Chapter 



















Chi Chapter 


109 


stemmed violets grow in profusion. Uncounted blossoms 
go to fill their baskets and later the Old Ladies’ Home 
and the nearby hospitals receive the gifts of Violet Day. 

Each alumna of Phi Chapter receives once a year a 
letter from the college chapter giving news of its plans 
and progress and telling of the other alumnae. Phi Chap¬ 
ter follows each of its members with loving interest 
through the years after they leave Albion. Its farewell 
gift to its seniors is a spoon engraved with the fraternity 
letters. Its brides find among their wedding gifts a cold 
meat fork from the chapter and to every baby born to one 
of its alumnae, a silver cup bears Phi’s good wishes. 

CHI CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS 

Nine girls met at the home of Mrs. J. W. O’Bryon on 
October 29, 1913, and organized the local fraternity, Pi 
Delta. These girls had already been close friends for 
over a year and organized formally with the intention of 
petitioning for a charter from a national fraternity. 
Keeping its Greek name and Greek ambitions secret, Pi 
Delta emerged the next year as a house club, the Kmgh 
Club. In the next two years the Kmgh Club built up an 
extremely strong membership, whose scholarship won 
them members in Phi Beta Kappa and whose capability 
brought them responsible positions in many of the cam¬ 
pus activities. 

Late in the spring of 1915 an informal petition was 
submitted to Alpha Xi Delta. On June 30, Hortense 
Miller-Cromer, Zeta, met with the active members of Pi 
Delta at the Kansas City home of Mrs. P. H. Bull, a sister 
of their president. In August word was received of the 
approval of their petition by the national council and by 
the Grand Chapter, then in convention. As soon as pos¬ 
sible after the opening of the university that fall, the 
formal petitions were issued. Notice having been re¬ 
ceived of its acceptance, the members of Pi Delta were 
pledged to Alpha Xi Delta by Clara Gene Dains, Zeta, a 



Charter Members, Chi Chapter 















Chi Chapter 


111 


senior in the university. Miss Dains had been a good 
friend and an invaluable aid to the petitioning group. 

Chi Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta was installed Decem¬ 
ber 10, 1915, by Lena Grandin Baldwin, assisted by Lulu 
Runge, Theta, and Clara Gene Dains, Zeta. With poetic 
fitness the ceremony took place at the home of Mrs. 
O’Bryon, where the first meeting of the local club had 
been held. Mrs. O’Bryon was the first patroness of the 
chapter and always a friend and helpful adviser. The 
members of the chapter installed were: Kathleen Me 
Coubrie-Smith, Mildred Light Samson, Margaret Cole¬ 
man-Rose, Grace Green Leat, Bertha Smith Appel, Helen 
Streeter, Ingeborg Sundstron Bowen, Gertrude Hurley, 
Josephine Himes Burns, Helen Trant, Sarah Trant, 
Helen Chambers Davis, Naomie Light, Maude Laury, 
Ruth Jackson Leatherman, Pearl Milton Lear, May An¬ 
derson and Ina Haines Taylor. 

Chi Chapter owns its home at 1332 Louisiana Street. 
Many of the social customs center about it. Thanks¬ 
giving time sees the gathering of alumnae and guests. 
The anniversary of the chapter’s installation, December 
10, is celebrated with a pickle mix at which the freshmen 
present a farce for the entertainment of the other girls. 
Founders’ Day is observed with a banquet at the house. 
Mothers’ Day brings with it invitations to the mothers 
of the girls to have dinner with them at the house on the 
second Sunday of May. After dinner a program is given 
for the guests. Each spring a house-party and dance are 
given for prospective rushees. A senior dinner marks 
the close of the year. The senior girls are the guests of 
the chapter and each receives a spoon engraved with the 
letters of the fraternity as its farewell token to them. 

Christmas is usually observed with the planning and 
delivery of baskets of food to needy families in Lawrence. 
Occasionally the philanthropy is varied to a contribution 
of money to some cause which has appealed to the chap- 



Campus Scenes, Ohio State University 














Psi Chapter 


113 


ter. The season is not allowed to pass without the shar¬ 
ing of its joy with others less fortunate. 

Twice each year every alumnae receives a copy of the 
Chi Crier. It brings news of the active chapter and bits 
of alumnae doings, keeping them in touch with each other 
as well as with the collegiate members. 

Of all the honors at the University of Kansas which a 
girl may win, membership in Torch is the highest. Torch 
is a senior society with a membership limited to nine, 
election to which is by joint faculty and student vote. 
For three successive years Chi Chapter has had one of 
her members wearing the Torch insignia beneath her 
quill: Catherine Oder, 1921; Pauline Newman, 1922; 
Irene Peabody, 1923. 

PSI CHAPTER, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY 

The Alpha Nu local fraternity was organized early in 
the fall of 1913. At first the fraternity was merely a 
group of girls from the different classes, some of whom 
lived in the same house and all of whom were active in 
many phases of college life. As the hope of becoming a 
chapter in a national fraternity crystalized into the def¬ 
inite ambition to petition Alpha Xi Delta, the number of 
Alpha Nu’s members was slowly and carefully enlarged. 

A formal petition was issued in 1915 and on January 
14, 1916, Psi Chapter was installed by Lena Grandin 
Baldwin, Eta, and Ellen Ball, Beta, assisted by Freda 
Spring, Gamma, a faculty member and a firm friend of 
Alpha Nu. Representatives from Pi and Zeta Chapters 
attended the service which took place at 6:30 p. m. in the 
beautiful home of Mrs. Hills, a patroness. The charter 
members were: Florence Gordon, Juanita Miller, Emily 
Harris, Bertha Hoborn, Florence Brobeck, Meta Moeser, 
Rhoda Schick, Ruth Schachne, and Adaline Giffin. 

Psi Chapter early provided for a growing chapter- 
house fund which has now reached a figure which will 
soon render the ownership of a fraternity home feasible. 



Charter Members, Psi Chapter 

First row, left to right: Florence Gordon, Juanita Miller Lindsley, Emily Harris 
Thornberry. 

Second row: Bertha Hoborn, Florence Brobeck, Meta Moeser. 

Third row: Rhoda Schick Nusbaum, Ruth Schachne Friedman, Adaline Giffin Brown. 






Omega Chapter 


115 


Meanwhile the chapter rents an attractive apartment of 
two rooms and a kitchenette which is just across the 
street from the campus. 

Since its installation Psi Chapter has always held 
initiation at 6:30 on Sunday morning. Rising with the 
sun while the day is yet new and pure, the girls take the 
vows which bring to them a new and purer outlook on 
life. 

In addition to the regular weekly chapter meetings 
Psi has a tea or spread twice each month to which only 
its college members come. The value of such a custom is 
great to a chapter whose members cannot live together 
and who meet rarely in classes due to the great variety 
in the courses of study followed. 

Christmas is always a happy time when college and 
alumnae members celebrate the great holiday of the year 
together. Mothers’ Day is observed with a tea, honoring 
the mothers of all Psi girls and having as its honor guests 
those mothers who are living near enough to attend.. 

The scholarship of Psi Chapter is of high character. 
In the fall of 1922 it was awarded the cup offered by 
Columbus City Panhellenic Association to the chapter 
among the women’s fraternities having the highest aver¬ 
age scholastic standing. It was especially delightful to 
have Psi win at this time, for the luncheon at which the 
presentation was made was presided over by the presi¬ 
dent of the City Association, then Wilhelmina Slay- 
maker-Kinsey, one of Psi’s own girls. 

OMEGA CHAPTER, JOHN B. STETSON UNIVERSITY 

In the fall of 1916, Eirene Esch-Milligan, of Pi Chap¬ 
ter, entered Stetson University as an advanced student. 
Becoming convinced that a suitable field was offered here 
for another chapter of Alpha Xi Delta, she wrote the 
national council asking approval of her project. Receiv¬ 
ing it, she organized the local fraternity, Alpha Phi 



Charter Members, Omega Chapter 

First row, left to right: Marian Hanne, pledge; Lillian Carlton-Jonghin, Genevieve Humston, 
pledge; Lillian Wells, Olga Bowen. 

Second row: Lillian Fuller Cox, Ruth Houston, pledge; Myrtle Barbe-Smith, Feme Fillingliam, 
Bess Christianson. 

Third row: Jean Eggleston, Carmen Ericson, Llelen Carmine, Helen Parker. 



Omega Chapter 


117 


Delta, in November of that year. In March the national 
council approved the issuing* of a formal petition. 

Alpha Phi Delta was installed as Omega Chapter of 
Alpha Xi Delta on May 28, 1917, by Lena Grandin Bald¬ 
win, Eta, assisted by her sister, Ethel Baldwin-Bruce, 
Eta, and Eirene Esch-Milligan, Pi. The ceremony took 
place in the chapter’s room in the Carnegie Library 
Building. The chapter installed consisted of Carmen 
Ericson, Lillian Wells, Jean Eggleston, Olga Bowen, 
Helen Carmine, Myrtle Barbe-Smith, Feme Fillingham, 
Helen Parker, Bertha Christiansen, Lillian Fuller-Cox 
and Lillian Carlton-Joughin. 

The participation of the girls in campus activities is 
evidenced by their numerous memberships in the dra¬ 
matic, musical and athletic fraternities. The scholarship 
of the chapter is of high character. The City Panhellenic 
Association of Jacksonville, Florida, offers a cup for 
competition in scholarship among the women’s frater¬ 
nities at Stetson University. In 1919 Omega Chapter 
held it. 

Each January the chapter gives a rose luncheon at 
the College Arms Hotel. Alpha Xi Delta roses form the 
motif of the decorations and are always used as favors. 
Its patronesses and as many as possible of the mothers 
of its members are the honor guests. 

The policy of the university requires all out-of-town 
girls to live in the dormitories. Each chapter of a wom¬ 
en’s fraternity has a room for its own use in the Carne¬ 
gie Library Building. Here are held chapter meetings, 
initiations, informal parties and spreads. Each year as 
the college months draw near their close the use of a 
house in town or of a cottage on the not distant Atlantic 
coast is secured. There, for a brief week-end, the chap¬ 
ter knows the pleasures of fraternity house life. 



Campus Scenes, John B. Stetson University 


















Alpha Alpha Chapter 


119 


ALPHA ALPHA CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF 
PITTSBURGH 

In 1917, through the influence of the Pittsburgh 
Alumnae Chapter, Marguerite Roberts, Iota, then a stu¬ 
dent in the university, organized a local fraternity, Alpha 
Delta. The alumnae in the city had long felt that a splen¬ 
did field existed there for Alpha Xi Delta and their 
co-operation was enthusiastic from the first. Alpha Delta 
held an informal meeting on Thanksgiving Day at the 
home of Albertine Prince-Miller, Theta. Anna Miller- 
Knote met with them on December 15 and discussed plans 
for the future. Approval of their organization was ob¬ 
tained from the chairman of the faculty committee on 
fraternities. Muriel Scott, Delta, who was also a student, 
became a member of the fraternity. Alpha Delta was 
recognized by the university Panhellenic on February 
20, 1918, and admitted to that body. 

Alpha Alpha Chapter was installed on May 17, 1918, 
at the Hotel Schenley. Lena Grandin Baldwin and Anna 
Miller-Knote presided at the ceremony. Representatives 
from Gamma, Delta, Iota and Pittsburgh Alumnae Chap¬ 
ters were present. The charter members of the chapter 
were: Mary Ewing, Edna Higbee, Cecil Busch, Noralie 
Stickle, Lucile Martin, Sarah Shaffer, Miriam Bomhard, 
Dorothy Hodgson, Catherine Snell, Helen Bartholomew, 
Marguerite Roberts, Iota, Isabel Gass, Jean Foight, 
Alma Swavel, Sylvia Millar, Ethlynn Arnold, Freda 
Clause, Muriel Scott, Delta, and Ruth Douthitt. 

The City Panhellenic Association of Pittsburgh each 
year awards a cup to the women’s fraternity having the 
highest average standing in scholarship. The award is 
made at a luncheon to which the active chapters of the 
university send delegates. In 1920-21 this honor was 
achieved by Alpha Alpha Chapter. 

For many years after the admission of women stu¬ 
dents to the university the women’s athletics were prac¬ 
tically unorganized. Each group, interested in a single 






Charter Members, Alpha Alpha Chapter 







Alpha Beta Chapter 


121 


phase of athletics, went its own way to success or failure. 
In 1920-21 all athletics for women were brought within 
the scope of one organization, the Women’s Athletic 
Association. Ethel May James served as its first presi¬ 
dent and to her fell the task of perfecting a working 
system which should allow the many interests to work in 
harmony, interfering with none and developing each. 
This task, with its manifold details, was carried through 
with splendid success. The Association is one of the most 
influential on the campus. 

Many of the girls of Alpha Alpha are from the vicini¬ 
ty of Pittsburgh; near enough to each other to be with¬ 
in reach for a reunion at the close of the summer before 
the opening of the new year. Such a reunion is held each 
summer at the home of Ruth Wallace. There, where an 
outdoor swimming pool tempts with its cool water and 
the open spaces lure with the suggestion of corn roasts 
and camp fire cookery, the plans of Alpha Alpha are laid 
for the coming year. 

ALPHA BETA CHAPTER, CORNELL UNIVERSITY 

On the evening of Thanksgiving Day, 1916, two girls 
were talking together and conceived the idea of estab¬ 
lishing a local fraternity having as its goal the securing 
of a charter in Alpha Xi Delta. Filled with enthusiasm, 
they easily interested several other girls in the project. 
A petition was sent to President Schurman asking recog¬ 
nition as a local fraternity and sanction for their plan to 
petition Alpha Xi Delta. Winning approval from both 
President Schurman and the Dean of Women, the or¬ 
ganization of Delta Pi Alpha was completed. 

Correspondence was begun with Lena Grandin Bald¬ 
win, and in May, 1917, she visited the group. Approval 
of the issuance of a formal petition was received from the 
National Council the following April. This petition being 
accepted, Miss Baldwin motored to Ithaca from her home 
in Elmira and pledged the members of Delta Pi Alpha on 
May 13. 











.... 


Hi 




HH 




Charter Members, Alpha Beta Chapter 














































Alpha Beta Chapter 


123 


Eight days later, May 21, 1918, the installation cere¬ 
mony took place in one of the assembly rooms of Pru¬ 
dence Risley Hall. Anna Miller-Knote and Lena Grandin 
Baldwin presided at the service and were assisted by six 
girls from Eta Chapter. The charter members of Alpha 
Beta Chapter are: Elsie Yates, Madeline Fries, Eliza¬ 
beth Cook, Margaret Campbell, Bertha Reed, Arlouine 
Chesebrough, Lillian Lvbolt, Ruth Lee, Agnes Meehan, 
Blanch Bufford, Mary Ellen Ford, Bernice Reynolds, 
Dorothea Durfee, Louise Grandin, Laura Brown, Gretch- 
en Schwietzer, Grace Johnson, Marian Ploss, Olive Gros- 
klaus and Helen Bullard. 

Much credit was due the older members of the local 
chapter. During their last year as Delta Pi Alpha, Louise 
Grandin as president, successfully directed the chapter’s 
efforts to the attainment of its national chapter. 

Elizabeth Cook, one of Alpha Beta’s charter mem¬ 
bers, was the first woman to specialize in Animal Hus¬ 
bandry at Cornell. She was made a member of Cornell’s 
stock judging team and was awarded several gold medals 
for judging cattle at exhibitions throughout the country. 
She also won a five hundred dollar scholarship at Iowa 
State Agricultural College and studied there for one 
year. 

Through the persistent efforts of Arlouine Chese¬ 
brough, Marian Ploss and Helen Baker, Alpha Beta 
Chapter was able to move into a house within two years 
of the time of its installation. The many pleasant fea¬ 
tures which living together adds to fraternity life were 
at once felt. A house fund has been established and the 
chapter is working toward house ownership. 

The social service work of the chapter has been done 
in the poorer section of Ithaca. Dolls are dressed for 
the children at Christmas time. Several of the girls have 
volunteered each season to go to the Settlement House 
one night a week and help instruct in dancing. 

Certain entertainments have become traditional with 
the chapter. Among these are the pledge party in the 


124 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

winter and the senior party in the spring. Best loved of 
all is the Christmas party where each class surprises the 
others with a stunt and each member is presented with a 
small gift, which is fitting to some personal peculiarity. 

ALPHA GAMMA CHAPTER, COE COLLEGE 

Chi Rho Phi, a local fraternity, was founded in No¬ 
vember, 1916. At the time when the formal organization 
was complete its membership consisted of seven active 
girls and eight pledges. The fraternity was ad¬ 
mitted to the college Panhellenic with the understanding 
that it should at once begin to work toward securing a 
charter from a national organization. Minna Wykoff, 
Kappa, a member of the faculty, was a potent force in 
bringing Alpha Xi Delta to Coe College. She was a sin¬ 
cere friend of the petitioning group, giving them sugges¬ 
tions and help both invaluable and enthusiastic, whenever 
needed. 

The installation of Alpha Gamma Chapter took place 
May 23, 1918, at the home of Carmean Ormsby-Van 
Zanta. Bess Williamson, Alpha, and Lulu Runge, Theta, 
presided at the ceremony, assisted by Minna Wykotf, 
Kappa, and four girls from Sigma, Mary Anderson, Julia 
Bryant, Marie Morrison and Lorena Byrnes. 

The charter members of Alpha Gamma Chapter 
were: Sarah Seger, Florence Geyer, Philomene Holden, 
Carmean Ormsby-Van Zanta, Maud Karsten, Dorothy 
Moninger, Helen Moninger, Junia Chalmers, Esther 
Myers, Sylvia White, Lulu Jones, Sarah Van Boskuk 
Carr, Blanche Graham, Lotia Arney, Agnes Walker, 
Alice Morrison, Vogel Schell, Ellen Wilson, Mildred Hoff 
and Doris Rolston. 

The scholastic standing of the chapter has been con¬ 
sistently high. In the first semester of the college year 
1920-21 the chapter was awarded the silver bowl given at 
the close of each semester by the City Panhellenic Asso¬ 
ciation of Cedar Rapids to the women’s fraternity having 



Charter Members, Alpha Gamma Chapter 







































126 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


the highest average standing. Not only did the chapter 
rank first but one of its members, Bertha Biederman, had 
received the highest individual rating. 

While it had as its guest in 1922, Myrtle Coker 
Combe, Kappa, National Visitor, Alpha Gamma insti¬ 
tuted a new custom upon the Coe campus. It held open 
house in Mrs. Combe’s honor at the beautiful home of 
Mrs. Lattner, a patroness. The guests included the mem¬ 
bers of the faculty and of the Greek fraternities, both 
men’s and women’s. The friendly spirit and better 
acquaintance engendered by such association is of real 
potential value and the custom one well worth observance. 

The first issue of the chapter’s bulletin appeared in 
1923. Through this bulletin it seeks to keep the alumnae 
interested in and informed of the advance and growth of 
the college chapter. Bits of news concerning as many of 
the older girls as possible are also published, thus keep¬ 
ing the alumnae in touch with each other and welding the 
members of Alpha Gamma into a realization of the fra¬ 
ternity ideal, a chapter in which college and alumme 
members are all co-operating with interest unslackened 
and energies untired. 

The contributions made to the student life of Coe Col¬ 
lege by Alpha Gamma Chapter through the efforts of its 
members have been of unusual worth. Mary Crowe was 
instrumental in founding and served as president of Zeta 
Theta Pi, an honorary dramatic fraternity. Blanche Hill 
Graham was a charter member of Pi Alpha Theta, an 
honorary journalistic fraternity. Grace Kiner was the 
moving force in the organization of the “Girls’ Booster 
Club, ’ ’ which includes all women students in its member¬ 
ship and has as its object the development and preserva¬ 
tion of the spirit of loyalty to Coe College. 

Alpha Gamma Chapter offers each year a prize of 
fifteen dollars to any woman student showing exceptional 
ability along journalistic lines and having three years ex¬ 
perience on the staff of Cosmos, the college newspaper. 






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128 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


ALPHA DELTA CHAPTER, OREGON STATE 
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

Delta Psi was founded November 11, 1917. The fol¬ 
lowing month the College Council granted its petition 
that it might exist as a club until satisfactory grades for 
two semesters should make it possible for it to be recog¬ 
nized as a local fraternity. Winning such recognition, 
it was ambitious to petition Alpha Xi Delta. During the 
period of its local life, Delta Psi was under the super¬ 
vision of three Alpha Xi Delta women; Charlotte Hurd 
Wight and Margaret Templeton, both of Omicron Chap¬ 
ter and both faculty members, and Genevieve Bolton, Nu, 
a senior in the college. 

At the end of its first school year arrangements were 
made for leasing a house for next fall. Since then the 
chapter has been a resident group on the campus. 

Alpha Delta Chapter was installed May 30, 1919, by 
Ellen Ball, Beta, assisted by four girls from Nu Chapter: 
Sarah Harris, Dorothy Beard, Gertrude La Grave and 
Bonnie Bell. The pledge service was held at 2:00 o’clock 
in the afternoon when twenty-six girls took their pre¬ 
liminary vows. The initiation service was the evening of 
the same day at 8:30 o’clock. Both services were held in 
the chapter-house. The charter members were: Josephine 
Hammond, Elizabeth Dyson, Una Darby, Hazel Garber, 
Thayer Raymond, Laura Ziegler, Margaret Bailey, Ver¬ 
na Keppinger, Genevieve Moore, Nellie Porter, Anna- 
belle Chandler, Margaret Dyskow, Ruth Ferguson, Helen 
Harbke, Marylee Jenks, Ida Hendricks, Bertha Watt, 
Leona Dodson, Marguerite Michel, Helen Poling, Floy 
Sims, Irene Fourier, Frances Freitas, Elizabeth Knotts, 
Ethel Knotts and Pearl Rosenlof. 

ALPHA EPSILON CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF 
MICHIGAN 

The local fraternity, Alpha Delta, was founded 
through the efforts of Irene Meyer, Mary Miller-Erpeld- 


Alpha Epsilon Chapter 


129 


ing and Myrtle Bohen, all of Phi Chapter. Phi Chapter 
had long wished to see a chapter of Alpha Xi Delta at 
the University of Michigan and recognized the oppor¬ 
tunity which lay in the fortunate chance of having three 
of its members as students there at one time. 

For over a year the members of Alpha Delta worked 
diligently in bringing their organization up to national 
standards. Alpha Epsilon Chapter was installed by Lena 
Grandin Baldwin, Eta, on February 10, 1920. The in¬ 
stallation ceremony was attended by representatives of 
Gamma, Pi, Zeta and Phi Chapters. The girls initiated 
at that time were: Elizabeth Oakes, Margaret Slater, 
Helen Sprick, Florence Butler, Lisla Crittenden, Inez 
Rieger, Mabel Cowden, Margaret Buckley-Scull, Ruth 
Walker, Mary Chandler, Pauline Sistig, Mildred Lawton, 
Catherine Lillie-Shulz, Enid Hough, Dorothy Ulbright 
and Theda Shaw-Holen. 

Following the installation service Anna Rowley 
Wightman, Phi, then a resident of Ann Arbor, enter¬ 
tained at supper, honoring the members of the new 
chapter. 

On the afternoon of February 21, Mrs. H. H. Seeley, a 
patroness of the chapter, entertained at tea, for its 
guests. That evening a formal banquet was given at the 
Michigan Union. Mrs. Hutchins, wife of the president 
of the university, and Mrs. Myra B. Jordan, Dean of 
Women, were among the guests. 

Irene Meyer, Phi, acted as toastmistress, introducing 
the following program: 

My Greeting to Alpha Epsilon.Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta. 

Into the Spirit.Mrs. Jordan. 

Happy Days in Alpha Xi.Martha Kerr-Currie, Zeta. 

Into the Fold.Marjorie Hagel-Semon, Pi. 

Gone But Not Forgotten.Ruth Homrighaus-Collins, Zeta. 

A Sister.Lucile Wood, Gamma. 

Nobody Knows But an Alpha Xi.Margaret Barrell, Phi. 

Alpha Epsilon Chapter had lived in a rented house 
during the year of 1919-20 and found it not altogether 










Charter Members, Alpha Epsilon Chapter 


First row, left to right: Margaret Slater, Anna Irene Meyer, Myrtle Alice Bahru, 
Helen Ann Sprick. 

Second row: Inez Rieger, Marguerite Barrell, Mabel Cowden, Mary Creamer Chandler. 
Third row: Margaret Buckley Scull, Pauline Hoffman Sistig, Lisla Crittenden, 
Bernice Woodbeck. 

Fourth row: Ruth Walker, Florence Butler, Mary' Elaine Miller, Elizabeth Oakes. 



Alpha Zeta Chapter 


131 


satisfactory. Resolved to settle itself comfortably and 
permanently, the chapter purchased the house it now 
occupies during the vacation months of 1920. The girls 
returned to college several days earlier than usual and 
“moved in” to their new home. 

Alpha Epsilon has made a secure place for Alpha Xi 
Delta in the undergraduate life of the University of 
Michigan. It is well represented in both scholastic hon¬ 
ors and the organizations of the campus. 

ALPHA ZETA CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 

Xi Delta, a local fraternity, was organized one day in 
the fall of 1919 when the girls who composed it met for 
that purpose in a room in the Fine Arts Building. Jessie 
Kelsey Liddell was elected president. Realizing that 
their problems would be much simplified if they lived 
near each other, the girls all moved into King Hall at the 
beginning of the second semester. Plans were at once 
made to petition Alpha Xi Delta. Marie Morrison- 
Anderson, Sigma, of Oklahoma City, was invited to come 
to Norman and meet with the girls. Interested and help¬ 
ful patronesses were secured, the chapter entertaining 
that spring at a bridge party in their honor. 

The opening of the university in the fall of 1920 found 
Belle Vickery, Eta, a new member of the faculty as in¬ 
structor in voice. She became greatly interested in the 
growth of the local Xi Delta, which was now living in a 
rented house. 

Julia Steele-Eley gathered and prepared the material 
for a formal petition in order that it might be sent out 
without delay as soon as the approval of the National 
Council of Alpha Xi Delta was secured. 

Alpha Zeta Chapter was installed May 6, 1921. Lulu 
'Runge, Theta, presided at the ceremony, assisted by 
Marie Morrison-Anderson, Sigma, Belle Vickery, Eta, 
and Katherine Odes, Chi. The girls initiated at that time 
were: Jessie Kelsey Liddell, Irene Thoma, Pansy Rent- 



3BM31 


Charter Members, Alpha Zeta Chapter 


Julia Steele Eley Mary Virginia Sawyer 

Marion Prater Bennie Henry 

Irma Armstrong 

Kathleen Haley Miriam Evans 

Pansy Rentfrow Irene Thoma 


Iris Leadaman 
Ottalie Terrill 
Jessie Kelsey Liddell 





Alpha Eta Chapter 


133 


frow, Miriam Evans, Ottalie Terrill, Bennie Henry, 
Kathleen Haley, Irma Armstrong, Iris Leadaman, Mary 
Virginia Sawyer, Marion Prater and Julia Steele-Eley. 

Alpha Zeta Chapter observes Christmas with a chil¬ 
dren^ party given for the chapter each year in the week 
preceding the holidays. Each girl gives to the others 
toys and playthings as gifts. After the fun is over the 
toys are carefully collected and taken to the Y. W. C. A. 
which uses them as gifts for children who might not 
otherwise have had a Christmas. 

A delightful chapter custom is the senior dinner. 
Sometime near the end of the college year the freshmen 
of the fraternity entertain the chapter at dinner in a fare¬ 
well honor to its senior members. 

Alpha Zeta Chapter early realized the advantages 
which lay in house ownership. During the summer of 
1922 its pleasant home was built. On September 15, the 
house was ready for the girls to move into, and the chap¬ 
ter became a permanent resident with the troublesome 
question of where to live definitely settled. 

ALPHA ETA CHAPTER, PURDUE UNIVERSITY 

In 1911 the girls living in the Marstellar Annex to the 
women’s dormitory decided to organize their house and 
run it on a co-operative plan. So successful was the 
experiment that the organization effected was continued 
year after year. In the spring of 1919 the girls then 
living in the house made plans to rent it in their own 
name instead of through the university, as hithertofore, 
and to petition the faculty for recognition as a local fra¬ 
ternity. On October 28, 1919, the notice of such formal 
recognition was received from the president of the uni¬ 
versity and the existence of the Omega Tau fraternity 
began. 

The high scholastic standing of Alpha Eta Chapter is 
but the tradition left it by Omega Tau. During the period 
in which the fraternity was a local, no member ever re- 


134 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

ceived a grade below passing. For three successive 
semesters the Shoemaker Scholarship Cup was awarded 
it in recognition of the fact that its average scholastic 
standing was the highest among the women’s fraternities. 
Further honor was brought to the chapter by Ruth Custer 
Heckard who, in 1920, was the first woman elected to 
Purdue Chapter of Sigma Xi. 

On June 8, 1921, Omega Tau was installed as Alpha 
Eta Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. Myrtle Jones-Stevens, 
Mu, and Lulu Runge, Theta, presided at the ceremony 
assisted by Hortense Miller-Cromer, Zeta, and Hazel 
Timmerman-Timberlake, Nu. Both the pledging and the 
initiation services were held in the chapter-house at 116 
Marstellar Street, West La Fayette. The charter mem¬ 
bers of Alpha Eta Chapter were: Hazel Arbuckle, Gene¬ 
vieve Baer, Charline Blind, Bernice Corkey, Eva Cullar, 
Ruth Dunn, Esther Forbes, Mary Furr, Ruth Goff, 
Gladys Hinchman, Marjorie Jones, Treva Kessler, Ar- 
lina Knoblock, Mary Latta, Okla Leonhard, Velma 
McClure, June Martin, Claire Place, Mary Place, Lillian 
Pulver, Florence Reed, Irene Seaman, Blanche Stroup, 
Lillian White, Ida Wilhite, Bertha Walton, and Burrel 
Wiselogel. 

The chapter still occupies the house which once was 
known as the Marstellar Annex, a roomy three-story 
building well suited to its needs. A growing house fund 
is preparing for the future when other arrangements may 
become desirable. 

Social customs which are obesrved year after year 
bring with them the background of past pleasures and 
enjoyment. There is a fine sincerity in the hospitality 
which can be offered so unfailingly. Early in each col¬ 
lege year Alpha Eta entertains for its freshmen. They 
are again honored after their initiation with a dance. 
Four years later when the same girls are ready to leave 
Purdue a senior farewell party is given for them. Each 
year the mothers of the girls are invited to a house-party. 
They spend their time in cozy visits with each other and 



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136 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

with their own daughters, in learning to know that daugh¬ 
ter’s friends and in having an intimate glimpse of her 
college life and college interests. 

The circus is an annual event given by the students 
at Purdue University and looked forward to by them with 
the traditional eagerness which circus day thoughts in¬ 
spire in small boys. The morning of the day is given up 
to the parade and the “big tent” is not open until after¬ 
noon. The parade is an important feature of the circus, 
prizes being given for the most successful floats entered 
in it. Much thought is given by each fraternity to making 
novel and original the one entered in its name. In the 
parade of 1922, Alpha Xi Delta’s float won the first prize, 
making the day a truly gala one for its originators. 

The social service work of the chapter has been quite 
varied. Many of the talented members have aided in 
entertainments sponsored by the Y. W. C. A. in its work 
with factory girls and the families of disabled soldiers. 
The residents of the State Soldiers’ Home have enjoyed 
their musical ability. Hope Chapel is a mission school 
which offers a number of classes in different educational 
subjects. The teachers of these classes are volunteers 
who are interested in the success of the mission and many 
of them are Alpha Eta girls. 

Alpha Eta Chapter had the distinction of being the 
first chapter in the entire fraternity to raise its quota in 
the campaign for funds for the establishment of our 
National Scholarship Fund in 1923. Its loyalty to the 
ideals of Alpha Xi Delta was evidenced in the fact that 
it did not cease to work for this cause when its own 
quota was completed but continued to aid until the nation¬ 
al goal was reached. 

ALPHA THETA CHAPTER, NORTHWESTERN 
UNIVERSITY 

Alpha Delta, a local fraternity, was established at 
Northwestern University through the endeavor of Fran¬ 
ces Crane, Beta, and Beah Jane Lloyd, Phi. The Chicago 


Alpha Theta Chapter 


137 


Alumnae Chapter had believed for some time that North¬ 
western University offered a suitable field for a chapter 
of Alpha Xi Delta. Friendly co-operation between the 
alumnae chapter and the local organization existed from 
the time of its founding. 

Alpha Delta was installed as Alpha Theta Chapter on 
June 11, 1921, by Myrtle Jones-Stevens, Mu, and Lulu 
Runge, Theta. The ceremony took place in the La Salle 
Hotel, Chicago, and was attended by sixty members of 
the Chicago Alumnae Chapter, representing chapters in 
all parts of the country. The charter members of Alpha 
Theta Chapter were: Frances Smith, Dorothy Brainard, 
Dorothy Olson, Esther Everett, Mabel Scott, Leila De 
Tar, Virginia Scott, Anna Catherine Harris, Esther 
McCormick and Jessie Olsen. 

At the Eleventh Convention, 1922, Alpha Theta Chap¬ 
ter extended an invitation to the Grand Chapter to meet 
with it in the Twelfth Convention. The invitation was 
accepted and Alpha Theta Chapter and Chicago Alumnae 
Chapter acted as hostesses to the convention of June, 
1924. 

Very early in its life as a chapter of Alpha Xi Delta, 
Alpha Theta Chapter established its house fund, and is 
working toward the ownership of a chapter-house: a goal 
which it hopes to realize within the near future. The 
proceeds of bazaars, rummage sales and dances have 
gone to swell the house fund, nor has the help of the Chi¬ 
cago Alumnae Chapter been negligible. 

Particular honor was given to Alpha Theta Chapter 
when, within one year after its installation, two of its 
members were invited to join Shi-ai-an, a national, hon¬ 
orary, interfraternity organization. These invitations 
marked a setting aside of all past precedent, for up until 
that time the members of a fraternity were not admitted 
to membership in Shi-ai-an until two years after the in¬ 
stallation of the Greek organization to which they be¬ 
longed. 

Alpha Theta is particularly active in athletics, having 



Founders of Alpha Theta 

First row, left to right: Frances Smith, Frances Crane, B, Anna Catherine Harris. 
Second row: Dorothy Olson, Esther McCormick, Reah Jane Lloyd, <h, Mabel Scott, 
Dorothy Brainard. 

Third row: Virginia Scott, Jessie Olsen, Gertrude Friend, Esther Everett. 





Alpha lota Chapter 


139 


at one time, 1922-23, members on varsity teams in hockey, 
volley ball, basketball, baseball, swimming and track and 
in addition claiming twin captains in Gertrude and Mar¬ 
garet Gesler who headed the baseball and basketball 
teams. 

The distinction achieved by Ethel Miller is note¬ 
worthy. During her college life she found time and inter¬ 
est to do social service work of such splendid quality 
that she was chosen to make a personal study of economic 
conditions in England, Germany and France. 

The interest of the chapter in scholastic accomplish¬ 
ment is reflected in the achievement of Leila De Tar, who 
was a founder and first president of Ro Ku Ya, a wom¬ 
an’s honorary fraternity. 

Among the most interesting social customs of the 
chapter are those which relate to its seniors. Late in 
each college year its coming graduates are honored with 
a beach breakfast, for Northwestern’s campus faces Lake 
Michigan. The chapter also entertains its seniors with 
a charming, informal party which it calls a “cozy.” Its 
last chapter meeting for each college year is dignified 
and set apart from other chapter meetings by the pres¬ 
ence of its graduating members, wearing their caps and 
gowns. 

ALPHA IOTA CHAPTER, DRAKE UNIVERSITY 

Alpha Iota Chapter dates its existence from October 
14, 1909, when it was founded as the “Idona Club.” At 
that time the policy of the college prohibited the use of 
Greek-letter names by its societies. This policy was later 
abandoned and in 1911 the name Iota Delta Omicron was 
adopted and the fraternity admitted to the newly organ¬ 
ized Panhellenic association. 

In 1921 Delta Iota Omicron petitioned Alpha Xi Delta 
and was installed as Alpha Iota Chapter on September 
10, 1921. Myrtle Jones-Stevens, Mu, and Lulu Runge, 
Theta, presided at the ceremony which took place in the 



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Alpha Iota Chapter 


141 


ballroom of Hoyt Sherman Place, the Women’s Club 
building of Des Moines. The Des Moines Alumrne Chap¬ 
ter attended the service during which thirty-eight alumnae 
and college members were initiated. The charter mem¬ 
bers of the college chapter were: Charlotte Jones, Vesper 
Price, Everil Dickinson, Helen Bell, Edna Cutler, Mil¬ 
dred Walters, Inez Jordan, Alice Smith, Myrne Wixcel, 
Norine Wiewel, Anna Gibson, Lottie Gibson, Anna Olson, 
June Turner, Hildred Walker, Genevieve Conrad, Grace 
Turner, Mary Jane Brumley, Bernice Thomas, Margaret 
Hawley. 

In 1922 a house was leased and the chapter established 
itself as a resident group. A house fund is being pro¬ 
vided against the time when the purchase or building of 
a permanent home may seem desirable. 

The scholastic standing of the chapter has been of an 
unusually high character. In order to maintain this 
standard Alpha Iota asks an average of B plus from its 
pledges for initiation. The standing required by the 
university Panhellenic is C. 

Chapter meetings are held on Monday evenings. The 
pledges meet with the active chapter during the first part 
of the evening. Roll call is answered by a point system 
which the chapter evolved for itself. A schedule of points 
has been made which includes participation in athletics 
and student organizations, chapel and church attendance, 
the credible passing of tests and examinations. Each 
girl replies f to the call of her name with the total of points 
which she has made during that week. Three points is 
the minimum permitted. Less than that is considered 
being delinquent in what the fraternity has the right to 
expect of its members. Any member, delinquent in 
points, explains the cause to the president and loses her 
vote in chapter or pledge meeting until she has earned a 
sufficient number of points to bring her average up to the 
required minimum of three per week. With such earnest 
care for its honor, Alpha Xi Delta stands high upon 
Drake Campus. 


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Alpha Kappa Chapter 


143 


ALPHA KAPPA CHAPTER, KANSAS STATE 
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 
Helen Parker, Omega, a student in Kansas State 
Agricultural College in 1920-21, founded the local frater¬ 
nity, Alpha Xi, in December, 1920. She was assisted in 
her work by Marjorie Marshbank-Parker, Nu, the wife 
of Professor John H. Parker. Early in 1922 a formal 
petition to Alpha Xi Delta was issued. Word of its 
acceptance reached the girls April 1. Alpha Kappa Chap¬ 
ter was installed by Lulu Runge, Theta, and Madeline 
Woodworth-Gladish, Nu, assisted by Madeline Donmeyer 
and her sister Bernice, Irene Peabody and Helen Marsh, 
all of Chi Chapter. The pledge service was held May 31 
and the initiation service, June 1. Both ceremonies took 
place in the home of Mrs. Colburn, one of the chapter 
patronesses. The girls initiated at that time were: Clara 
Louise Ausherman, Zattie Carp, Evelyn Colburn, Mabel 
Cooper, Georgiabelle Crikfield, Ina Davidson, Alice 
Dewitt, Elizabeth Fraser, Esther Jackson, Achsa John¬ 
son, Winifred Knight, Elsie Knox, lone Leith, Dorothy 
Lukert, Louisa Moyer, Edith Reece, Ann Robinson, Mary 
Robinson, Uene Thomas, Lavina Waugh. 

Following the initiation service a formal banquet was 
given at the Gi’llett Hotel. The table was lovely with 
pink roses which had been sent by Rho Chapter. The 
banquet was made memorable by the announcement of 
the engagements of seven of the girls. 

In the spring of 1922, just previous to its installation, 
Alpha Kappa Chapter purchased a house. It is a pleas¬ 
ant roomy home, well suited to its needs. 

Alpha Kappa has made for Alpha Xi Delta a secure 
place in the life of the college. It is well represented in 
athletics, in campus organizations and stands well 
scholastically. 



Charter Members, Alpha Lambda Chapter 













Alpha Lambda Chapter 


145 


ALPHA LAMBDA CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON 

Zeta Rho Epsilon was founded December 19, 1919, by 
eleven girls. Ethel Sanborn, Epsilon, assistant in the 
botany department, and Marthe Findahl, Epsilon, in¬ 
structor in the school of music, assisted them with the 
details of organization. The local fraternity existed as 
an informal group for several months, but, in answer to 
its petition, was recognized by the Student Council on 
May 7, 1920. 

Articles of incorporation were tiled during the sum¬ 
mer of 1920, and that fall the chapter moved into its own 
home. With the advent of the fraternity as a resident 
group, the university Panhellenic recognized it as a vot¬ 
ing member, granting to it all privileges accorded its 
national members save that of holding office. Ethel San¬ 
born represented Zeta Rho Epsilon as their alumnae 
delegate to the Panhellenic Association. 

Alpha Lambda Chapter was installed on June 10, 
1922, by Lulu Runge, Theta, and Ellen Ball, Beta, assisted 
by Ethel Sanborn, Epsilon, and Nell Branch, Kappa. 
Alpha Delta Chapter sent six representatives to attend 
the ceremony. Both pledging and initiation service were 
held in the chapter-house. The charter members were: 
Helen Smith, Maude Cosho, Ethel Wakefield, Rhetta 
Templeton, Jeanne Coon, Delia Keeney, Mary Mathis, 
Helene Reed, Mary Largent, Florence Furuset, Elsie 
Hildebrand, Ruby Baugh, Lucile Branstetter, Pauline 
Tompkins, Hazel Rasor, Maud Gorrie, Dorris Sikes, Ruth 
Tuck, Edna Largent, Alice Baker, Gladys Benson, Quin- 
tella Reed, Joanna James, Beatrice Tidd, Mildred Youel 
and Margaret Skavlan. 


CHAPTER V 


CHAPTER-HOUSE OWNERSHIP 
CTIVE encouragement of house ownership by its 



college chapters has long been a favored policy 


of Alpha Xi Delta. In 1911 convention action was 
taken establishing a National House Fund from which 
non-interest bearing loans were and are made to chapters 
wishing to build or buy homes. 

The making of these loans is entrusted to the national 
council which makes an investigation of the security 
offered and determines the amount and conditions of 
each loan. The usual period is for three years but at the 
discretion of the national council the loan may be renewed 
for two years at the termination of the first period. 

Loans from the national fund are not granted until 
the chapter has proven its dependability and respon¬ 
sibility in the project upon which it is about to embark. 
To be eligible for a loan from the National House Fund a 
chapter planning to build must own a lot completely paid 
for. A chapter wishing to buy cannot borrow money of 
the House Fund until it has raised a substantial amount 
by other means. 

At the close of the college year of 1922-23 fourteen 
chapters own homes. Of these Alpha, Phi and Gamma 
are prevented by faculty ruling from living in chapter- 
houses. Alpha and Phi own bungalows which stand upon 
their college campus and are used for fraternity purposes. 
Gamma’s house is a three story building whose second 
and third floors are apartments while the first floor is 
reserved for the chapter’s use. 

Delta, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Mu, Omicron, Sigma, Chi, 
Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Zeta, and Alpha Kappa are living 
in chapter owned houses. Kappa and Nu own lots upon 


Alpha Chapter-House 


147 



which they plan to build within the near future. Rho, 
Upsilon, Psi, Alpha Alpha, Alpha Beta, Alpha Iota, Al¬ 
pha Eta, Alpha Theta and Alpha Lambda all have chap¬ 
ter-house funds which are rapidly approaching the point 
where purchase or building of a chapter-house will he 
feasible. 

ALPHA CHAPTER, LOMBARD COLLEGE 
On Tuesday, June 3, 1914, the corner stone of Alpha 
Chapter’s lodge was laid, with impressive ceremony. 


Alpha Chapter Lodge 

Lombard College, Galesburg, Illinois 

The college chapter led the procession as it approached 
the building site. Following it were alumnae members 
and the trustees of the college. Eev. Almira Cheney, one 
of our founders, led the devotional exercises. Addresses 
were given by Dr. H. W. Hart, president of Lombard 
College, and by Gertrude Hopps, president of the college 
chapter. The ceremony was in charge of Anna Miller- 
Knote, Zeta, who laid the corner stone. The rose and 






148 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

colors worn by Rev. Cheney on April 17, 1893, when Al¬ 
pha Xi Delta first made its existence known were among 
the things put into the corner stone. 

The lodge stands on the northeast corner of the col¬ 
lege campus. On the first floor are three rooms, a spa¬ 
cious reception room, a dining-room and a kitchen. The 
reception room takes up one half of the lower floor. It 
is furnished in oak and wicker. Piano and Edison give 
the invitation to music both to those who play and to 
those who do not. A fireplace makes its pledge of winter 
comfort and above it hangs the shield of Alpha Xi Delta. 
It is here that chapter meetings are held and informal 
entertaining done. 

Opposite the fireplace a stairway leads to the second 
floor whose undivided space forms a ballroom. Here 
Alpha Chapter gives its dancing parties, adding to their 
charm by having them in its own home. 

The change from rented rooms to the greater comfort 
of its lodge was made possible for Alpha Chapter largely 
through the efforts of Bess Williamson. She worked un¬ 
tiringly in securing the co-operation of alumnas and col¬ 
lege members and in translating their dream chapter 
home into one of material substance. 

GAMMA CHAPTER, MT. UNION COLLEGE 

Gamma’s chapter-house, a three-story brick building, 
stands just outside the college campus, diagonally across 
the street from Elliott Hall, the women’s dormitory. 
Since the policy of Mt. Union College does not permit the 
chapter to live in its home, the second and third floors 
were arranged as separate apartments. The rental from 
them aided in the solution of the financial problems con¬ 
nected with building. 

The entire lower floor is reserved for chapter pur¬ 
poses. The entrance is from the south, into a vestibule 
which provides for wraps. The large living-room ex¬ 
tends across the entire front of the house. At one end 


Gamma Chapter-House 


149 


are built-in bookcases on either side of a French door 
which opens on the side porch. At the other end window 
seats flank a brick fireplace. The color scheme in this 
room is old blue and gray with touches of orange. The 
furniture is mahogany with a few chairs in gray wicker. 

To the rear of the living-room are dining-room and 
kitchen, dressing room and bath. The dressing room is 
the chapter’s especial pride. Its furniture, dressing 
table, strong-box and chairs, were old pieces bought at 
low prices. The girls painted them ivory color and added 



Gamma Chapter-House 
M t. Union College, Alliance, Ohio 


dainty flower designs in light shades. The particularly 
attractive and individual room resulting has given the 
chapter much enjoyment for each member had part in 
the transformation effected. 

Mr. F. E. Dussell made the employment of a landscape 
gardener his gift to the chapter. The terraced lawns and 
the beauty of the shrubbery renew appreciation each 
year. 

Gamma Chapter is ever grateful to Hazell Purcell for 
her work in planning color schemes and in selecting in- 




150 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


terior furnishings; to Mary Emily Kay for unlimited 
time spent on ways and means; to Mabel Hartzell who 
served as chairman of the building committee and to 
attorneys W. L. Hart and Sydney Geiger for legal serv¬ 
ices. Gifts of money were received from W. H. Purcell, 
C. Y. Kay, F. A. Hoiles, Mrs. Emma Cantine and Mrs. 
Katherine Webb and from the patronesses of the chap¬ 
ter, Mesdames W. L. Hart, S. B. Salmon, Arthur Wright, 
G. L. King, S. J. Williams and J. B. Bowman. 



Delta Chapter-House 

Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia 


DELTA CHAPTER, BETHANY COLLEGE 

In 1920 Delta Chapter purchased a permanent home 
for itself. No gifts larger than one hundred dollars were 
accepted from a single individual. The chapter bears the 
enviable record of receiving some gift from practically 
every member on its roster. 

The first floor contains two large living-rooms which 
are furnished in mahogany. Beyond them are the chap¬ 
ter room and the chaperon’s suite which includes a sleep¬ 
ing porch. 

The second and third floors are both given over to 
bedrooms, the furnishings being in ivory. 








Zeta Chapter-House 


151 


ZETA CHAPTER, WITTENBERG COLLEGE 

Zeta’s chapter-house is a two-story frame building 
which stands on the corner of College and Wittenberg 
Avenues, just one square from the college campus. Two 

great maple trees and the 
shrubbery which banks 
the porch add their at¬ 
tractiveness to its appear¬ 
ance. The porch, extend¬ 
ing across the front and 
one side of the house, is 
made inviting by swings 
and comfortable chairs. 
The back yard, pleasant at 
all times of the year, is 
especially so in the spring 
time when its cherry trees 
are in blossom. 

On entering the house, 
one steps into the recep¬ 
tion hall. To the right is 
a music room, furnished 
in mahogany and cane. 
The living-room, which 
may be entered from either music room or reception hall, 
is of spacious dimensions, being the width of the house. 
It is furnished in tapestry and a large fireplace gives its 
promise of cozy cheer on cold winter evenings. Beyond 
the living-room is the dining-room and the kitchen, the 
realm of a dark priestess of cookery. Six sleeping rooms 
and the bathroom occupy the second floor. 

The house was purchased by the Springfield Alumnae 
Chapter. The college chapter rents it from the alumnae 
chapter, the rent money being used for improvements, 
repairs and upkeep. 









152 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

The co-operation between the two chapters has re¬ 
sulted in the establishment of a comfortable, attractive 
and well organized home for Zeta Chapter. 

ETA CHAPTER, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 

Frances Hennigar wrote in description of Eta’s Chap¬ 
ter home: 

Eta’s home is situated just around the corner from 
our campus and is in the new fraternity section. The 
house is a stately gray, three-story building with a large 
tower. Recently Eta has added the corner lot adjoining 
the house. This gives her a corner location on two of the 
main streets and facing a large and beautiful park. 

A circular porch extends nearly three-quarters of the 
way around the house and gives ample room for porch 
hammocks, lounging chairs and the like. The heavy door, 
with its Alpha Xi Delta crest, opens into a small recep¬ 
tion hall. On the main floor are the kitchen, dining-room, 
library and music room. Under the stairs we also have 
a small but cozy den. Our kitchen has three large closets 
and a butler’s pantry. Our dining-room accommodates 
twenty people at five small tables. In our library one 
finds the bookcases, the fireplace and the easy chairs. 
Our music room contains our nicest things—soft divans, 
deep, upholstered chairs, floor lamp, piano, victrola and 
other instruments. Both the library and music room 
have soft, thick rugs over polished floors and the windows 
are draped in rose silk over soft lace curtains. These 
rooms on the first floor all open into each other with wide 
archways and make an ideal place for informal dances. 

The reception hall is furnished in brown wicker and 
a winding stairway leads up to the second floor. Here 
are five bedrooms. At the head of the stairs is a small 
room large enough for only one girl, but opening into an 
excellent sleeping porch. Next to this is the guest room 
with the tower adding to its size and affording an attrac¬ 
tive bay window. Here everything is in exquisite order 



Views of Eta Chapter-House 
S yracuse University, Syracuse, New York 




















154 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

and the polished floors reflect the dainty hangings. 
Down the hall are two more large bedrooms each having 
roomy closets and comfortable bay windows. Three girls 
usually occupy each of them. At the end of the hall is 
the chaperon’s room. 

The stairs here lead up to the third floor which has 
the same number of rooms as the second floor. Through¬ 
out the house every floor is hardwood and the improve¬ 
ments are modern and of the best. 

Eta is a growing chapter and we are all looking for¬ 
ward to the new house which is soon to be built on the lot 
next door to our present home. 

THETA CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 

June, 1923, found Theta Chapter living in the house 
which it had built in 1911, but planning eagerly for the 
new chapter-house which was to be built that summer on 
Lake Monona. Irene Davis wrote of both houses. 

Theta’s first house is one of the most comfortable and 
home-like on the Wisconsin campus. The lower story is 
of frame painted a dark red and the upper part is of 
grey stucco. Across the entire front is a huge porch 
where most of the chapter congregates during the warmer 
months. The entrance is at one side of front. Within, 
the living-room is to the right and it extends across the 
front of the house. At its far end is a large brick fire¬ 
place, with cozy window seats on either side. Back of the 
living-room is a small music room used as a library, 
trophy-room and, at examination times, as a special study 
room. Next to this is our dining-room which contains 
one long English Renaissance table. All the rooms on the 
first floor are separated from each other by huge arched 
doorways. The feeling of unity about the downstairs 
is aided by having that entire floor decorated the same, 
warm tan walls and brown oak trim. The kitchen is lo¬ 
cated in the basement directly below the dining-room. 

From the entrance hall the stairs rise directly to the 


Theta Chapter-House 


155 


second and third floors. There are three double rooms, 
one single room and the chaperon’s suite on the second 
floor. The third floor contains five double rooms. The 
fourth floor is finished into two large bedrooms which 
may be used when the house is overcrowded. 

The plans for Theta’s new house are about to be put 
into execution. We hope to be living there by 1924. The 
house is of English Cotswald style which means gables 
and entrance tower. It is of red brick with cut-stone 
trim. The main entrance is into the tower on one side of 



Theta Chapter-House 

University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 


the house. A huge hall cuts the house in half and con¬ 
tains the stairs leading down to the lower floor at one end 
and at the other the stairs to the upper floors. The front 
of the house is divided into a reception room and chap¬ 
eron’s sitting room and also contains a second entrance 
and enclosed stairway. On the other side of the hall are 
the living-room to the north and the music room and sun 
room to the south. Both the living-rooms and sun room 
have French doors opening onto the terrace which over¬ 
looks the lake. The house is three stories on the land 







156 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

side and four stories toward the lake. This makes the 
dining-room and kitchen located ideally on the lower 
floor, for the dining-room extends across the entire lake 
end of the house and French doors give ample light and 
access to the loggia. Here are also located the showers 
and dressing rooms for bathers. 

On the second and third floors are sleeping rooms 
which will accommodate twenty-six girls. The most 
pleasing features of the house are the chapter room on 
the second floor, the chaperon’s suite and the small laun¬ 
dry room on the third floor. 

MU CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 

In 1920 Mu Chapter realized its dream of owning a 
permanent home when the chapter was given the oppor¬ 
tunity to purchase that of Dr. Downey, Dean of the Uni¬ 
versity of Minnesota. 

The house, a three-story frame building, stands well 
back from the street. It is set in a wooded lot to which 
the beauty of carefully planted shrubbery has been added 
The entrance to the house is at one side and leads into a 
vestibule beyond which is a large central hall, whose 
length is that of the house. A great living-room, done in 
mahogany and brown, runs across the front of the house. 
From one end of the room French doors lead to a screened 
porch. At the room’s other end is a fireplace with book¬ 
cases and window seats. 

Across the hall from the living-room is a large and 
attractive dining-room with built-in buffet and china 
closets. Beyond the dining-room is the butler’s pantry 
and a well-lighted, well-equipped, modern kitchen. 

The second floor contains four large sleeping rooms 
which offer the luxury of private bath, fireplace and 
enormous wardrobe. The furnishings are dainty and 
attractive. A screened sleeping porch adds the final lure 
of slumber comfort. 

The third floor is arranged as a dormitory. 



Mu Chapter-House 

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 




158 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


OMICRON CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 

Dorothy Kreiss has written the description of Omi- 
cron’s chapter-house. 

Our house is a three-story, cement building, trimmed 

with a dark green 
wood. The steps 
approaching the 
front door are to 
the right of the 
house and lead to 
two porches, the 
first one having no 
roof and being sur¬ 
rounded by attrac¬ 
tive flower boxes. 
This porch leads to 
the inclosed one, at 
the farthest end of 
which is the main 
entrance. It opens 
into an attractive 
hall off of which 
are the living- 
room, suitors’ 
room and the stair¬ 
way leading to the 
second floor. The little room to the right as you enter 
the hall is called the suitors ’ room because it is there that 
the gentlemen are taken while waiting for any of the 
members. It is neatly furnished with a wicker set and 
among the decorations on the wall are crests of the house 
and that of the university. 

To the left of the hall is the living-room, very light, 
with hardwood floors and a large fireplace. There are 
upholstered chairs and davenport, a table and lamp, a 
new grand piano, several chairs and small benches and 
oriental rugs covering the floor. 



O micron Chapter-House 

University of, California, Berkeley, California 



Omicron Chapter-House 


159 


At the far end of the room are French doors leading 
into the dining-room. Here, also, are hardwood floors, 
side lights and confort. There are bnilt-in sideboards 
where the glasses and silverware are kept. There is one 
long table where the initiated members sit and two 
smaller ones, one of these being occupied only by the 
pledges. Between the dining-room and kitchen is a 
large pantry. The kitchen is very light and well equipped. 

Going up to the front stairs, which are carpeted, one 
comes into a large hall from which the bedrooms open. 

The first door to the left opens into the house mother’s 
room which is neatly furnished in gray. The door follow¬ 
ing reveals a large linen closet while next to that is a 
little hall leading to the front room which is considered 
the guest room. It has two mahogany bureaus, a dress¬ 
ing table, couch, chairs and a large fireplace. The wood¬ 
work is all in ivory and the curtains are ivory bordered 
with blue hangings. There is a private hath connected 
with this room. At the end of the hall is another bedroom 
furnished in ivory and old rose. There is a large porch 
off this room which is entered through French doors. A 
fourth bedroom is furnished in ivory and has cretonne 
hangings. It leads to a large sleeping porch where there 
are four beds. All of the rooms have ample closet space. 

There is also a third floor with one very large room 
facing the front. It accommodates three girls. A smaller 
room opens into another sleeping porch. On this floor 
there are also two store rooms. 

In the garden to the back of the main house is a 
smaller house where several girls may be accommodated. 
It is a two-story building with seven rooms, bath and 
sleeping porch. 

The flowers and lawns are given a great deal of care 
and add greatly to the attractiveness of the house. 


160 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 



SIGMA CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA 
Sigma’s chapter-house is located on the corner of 
Brown and Bloomington Streets. It stands well back on 
a terraced lawn which is attractive with shrubbery and 
many trees and offers a charming place for garden 
parties. 

An English basement provides for the dining-room 
and kitchen. On the ground floor are a reception hall and 


Sigma Chapter-House 

University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 

four inviting living-rooms. Three of these open into each 
other with French doors and so accommodate informal 
dances. Beyond the living-rooms are the alumnae guest 
chamber and the chaperon’s suite. 

The second floor is given entirely to studying and 
dressing rooms while the third floor is arranged as a dor¬ 
mitory. 






Phi Chapter-House 


161 



Phi Chapter Lodge 
A lbion College, Albion, Michigan 

needs to which it may be put, those of fraternity meet¬ 
ings and parties, and as a home where the girls may come 
and go as they choose. 

One enters a reception room from which an open 
stairway leads to the two large rooms above. The dining¬ 
room and chapter room complete the first floor. A fire¬ 
place where great wooden logs blaze or smoulder, a dav- 


The house is finished throughout in oak, all the floors 
being of polished quarter sawed oak. Most of the wall 
space is given to windows so that the rooms are unusually 
airy and light. 


PHI CHAPTER, ALBION COLLEGE 
The policy of Albion College does not permit its wom¬ 
en’s fraternities to live in their chapter-houses. A lodge, 
which stands upon the campus, readily serves all the 










University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 




















Alpha Epsilon Chapter-House 


163 


enport which may be drawn cozily close to the fire on 
cold days, a victrola and piano with their offerings of 
music, the soft light thrown by floor and table lamps, the 
bay windows looking out upon the campus, all combine 
to make the chapter room an unusually attractive one. 

The basement contains the furnace room and a well 
equipped kitchen. 

The purchase of the lodge was made possible in 1916 
by the interest of the chapter’s alumnae. At that time 
the two rooms on the second floor were only partly fin¬ 
ished. In 1923 the alumnae had this work completed as a 
gift to the college chapter. 

CHI CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS 

Chi’s chapter-house stands at 1332 Louisiana Street. 
It is a three-story structure built of brown shingles and 
faces west. The first floor contains a hall, living-room, 
chapter room, dining-room and kitchen. An inviting sun 
porch leads from the living-room and extends along the 
entire east side of the house. 

The second floor has three large rooms for the girls, 
the chaperon’s suite and a sleeping porch large enough 
to accommodate all of the girls. The third floor contains 
five bedrooms. 

ALPHA EPSILON CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF 
MICHIGAN 

Fern Brittain, the historian of Alpha Epsilon Chap¬ 
ter writes in description of its house: 

Alpha Epsilon’s house has a most convenient location. 
It is two blocks from the college campus, four blocks from 
the athletic field and only one and one half blocks to the 
car line. 

The porch, furnished in reed, is roomy enough to ac¬ 
commodate all of the members at informal gatherings. 
Upon entering the house one is in a wide, central hall with 
walls that are lined by comfortable davenports. To the 


164 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


right is a living-room, made homelike by its open fire¬ 
place, deep seated davenport, its piano and victrola. On 
the left is a den whose large fireplace is flanked on either 
side by bookcases above which are high windows. An in¬ 
viting davenport placed before the fireplace adds its com¬ 
fort to the room. 



Alpha Epsilon Chapter-House 

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 


The dining-room pleases one with the effect of its 
square, gray tables and gray, paneled walls. The wall 
design of pastel shaded flowers is repeated in the win¬ 
dow curtains. The butler’s pantry and the kitchen are at 
the rear of the house. 

The second floor contains five bedrooms, each having 










Alpha Zeta Chapter-House 


165 


a roomy closet. Both front bedrooms are unusually large 
and have been done in ivory. They are furnished with 
day-bed, tables, chairs, desks and dressers. The other 
bedrooms are furnished in oak. On the third floor are 
two small bedrooms and one extremely large room which 
is arranged as a dormitory. Here there are sleeping 
accommodations for all of the girls. 



Alpha Zeta Chapter-House 
U niversity of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 


ALPHA ZETA CHAPTER, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 

A colonial house with its brick walls fronted by state¬ 
ly white pillars; low, broad steps at either side which 
mount easily to the porch; such is Alpha Zeta’s home. 

The entrance is into the living-room which extends 
about half the length of the building. French doors open 
from it into a cozy den and also into the dining-room. 
Beyond the living-room lies a suite for the chapter’s 
chaperon and a guest room. Beyond the dining-room is 





166 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

the realm of the cook, pantry, kitchen, and refrigerator 
room and her bedroom and bath. 

The chapter room is in the basement. Here also are 
bedrooms and shower bath for the nse of the two men 
whom the chapter employs, trunk room, fruit room, 
laundry and furnace rooms. 

The second floor contains eleven dressing rooms and 
the bath accommodations. The third floor, a single large 
room, serves as a dormitory for all of the girls in the 
house. 

Through the efforts of two of Alpha Zeta’s alumnae, 
Belle Vickery-Matthews and Julia Steels-Eley, the owner¬ 
ship of the chapter-house was made possible. For one 
and one half years Mrs. Matthews and Mrs. Eley gave 
their time and ability to overseeing the planning, con¬ 
tracting, building and financing of their chapter’s home. 

ALPHA KAPPA CHAPTER, KANSAS STATE 
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

Alpha Kappa’s chapter-house is a white, frame build¬ 
ing located on the west side of North Sixteenth Street. 
Its large brick porch is vine-covered and inviting. On 
the first floor are a hall and living-room in one, the dining¬ 
room, butler’s pantry, kitchen, lavatory and a screened-in 
porch at the rear of the house. 

On the second floor are four bedrooms, and a large 
sleeping porch which accommodates twelve girls. The 
third floor is also used for dormitory purposes, six girls 
sleeping there. 

The house was purchased in 1922. The cash payment 
was raised through the payment of fifty dollars by each 
charter member. The money yet to be provided for was 
divided into eight notes, six of which were signed by the 
fathers of the girls as security for the chapter. One was 
signed by Professor John Parker, the husband of the 
chapter’s alumnae adviser and the eighth was paid by the 
National Loan Fund. The chapter is particularly grate- 


Alpha Kappa Chapter-House 


167 



Alpha Kappa Chapter-House, Kansas State 
Agricultural College 

ful to Professor Parker, for in addition to signing one of 
the notes for it, he was most helpful during the making 
of the financial arrangements incident to the purchase 
of its home. 






CHAPTER VI 


THE ALUMNAE CHAPTERS 
ESTHER DUNNING 

T HE motives lying behind the organization of alum¬ 
nae chapters are revealed in a composite answer 
formed by the letters from many alumnae secreta¬ 
ries. “We try to be big sisters/* “Our'aim is to per¬ 
petuate the loyal spirit of Alpha Xi Delta among its 
alumnae and to assist its college members in every way 
possible”; “to keep alive in the hearts of alumnae mem¬ 
bers those principals to which Alpha Xi Delta owes its 
being, to work for nearby^ chapters and for the national 
advancement of Alpha Xi Delta.” “To serve, and to 
show that where an Alpha Xi is, there is a friend.” 

Provision was made for the organization of alumnae 
in the national constitution adopted by Alpha Chapter, 
April 17, 1902. It provided that a charter might be 
granted by the Grand Committee upon receiving a peti¬ 
tion signed by not less than six alumnae living in the 
same vicinity. This number was later raised to ten and 
a fee of fifteen dollars assessed. 

Provision was also made originally for the formation 
of state associations, to include any number of members 
resident within one state. These associations were to 
have the power to adopt constitutions and by-laws for 
themselves, to be represented at the national conventions 
and entitled to vote therein and were also to be respons¬ 
ible for an annual report upon their condition to the 
Grand Chapter. Impersonal at best, the state association 
has not attracted and none has ever been organized, the 
members preferring the more intimate relations of the 
alumnae chapter. 

The organization of the alumnae chapter is similar to 


The Alumnce Chapters 


169 


that of any club, with the usual officers: president, vice- 
president, recording secretary, corresponding secretary, 
journal correspondent and treasurer. It is not unusual 
to find one of the officers responsible for all secretarial 
duties and the journal correspondence. Many variations 
occur in the officering of the chapters, since the organiza¬ 
tion is elastic and each adapts it to its own uses. In 
San Francisco the recording secretary keeps the minutes 
and sends out notices of meetings while the correspond¬ 
ing secretary handles the journal correspondence and 
writes any notes of congratulation, condolence or thanks 
which the chapter wishes to send. At Mt. Pleasant the 
corresponding secretary also handles all notices to the 
newspapers. The Kansas City Chapter has a marshal 
who examines new members and a chaplain who conducts 
the opening exercises. Several of the chapters have an 
officer who represents them in their City Panhellenic As¬ 
sociation. 

The alumnae chapter has about the same powers, 
privileges and duties as the college chapter except that of 
initiation or of enrolling any member not regularly ini¬ 
tiated in some college chapter. The alumnae chapter 
adopts its own constitution and by-laws, which must be 
consistent with the national constitution. 

Practically all the chapter meet once a month, usually 
on a Saturday afternoon at the home of one of the mem¬ 
bers. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Chapter meets at Mu's 
chapter-house. After their meeting they have tea with 
the college girls, two members serving as hostesses for 
the afternoon. Chicago and Lexington Chapters have a 
central meeting place and take luncheon together, the 
one at Marshall Field's Tea Room and the other at the 
Phoenix Hotel. Long trips to suburban homes are thus 
obviated. The New York Chapter followed the same 
plan until 1922 when it first secured its own rooms at 
52 East 25 Street. 

Since the Eleventh Convention, 1922, each alumnae 
member is classified as active or inactive. An active 


170 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

member is one who (1) is a life subscriber to The Alpha 
Xi Delta; (2) has met all obligations to her college chap¬ 
ter; (3) is a member in good standing in her alumnae 
chapter if there is one in her city. 

The place and work of the alumnae in the fraternity’s 
development constantly grows more important. The 
alumnae chapters aided materially in bringing about the 
realization of Alpha Xi Delta’s scholarship fund. In 
addition, the alumnae chapters are doing a great deal of 
hospital work. The aiding of hospitals was adopted at 
the Tenth Convention, 1920, as a work particularly for 
the alumnae chapters, many of which have chosen chil¬ 
dren’s hospitals as the ones to benefit from their efforts. 
There is a variety in the work as each chapter responds 
to the needs which it finds in its own locality. Some 
chapters are furnishing rooms, others provide bed linens, 
still others make garments to be used in the children’s 
wards. Each finds anew the spirit of the fraternity in its 
ideal of that universal friendship which brings all sick 
and needy ones close to our hearts. 

Not the least of the service given the fraternity by 
its alumnae chapters has been their aid in entertaining 
the national conventions. San Francisco, Boston, Minne- 
apolis-St. Paul, Lexington and Chicago Alumnae Chapters 
have been co-hostesses at the last five conventions. 
With the growth of the fraternity the preliminary work 
required for each convention has grown correspondingly, 
and it is well that older members share the burden. 

While provision for the alumnae chapter was made in 
1902, it was not until July, 1904, that the first was organ¬ 
ized at Alliance, Ohio. In its first letter to the journal 
the statement is made that the chapter met with “the 
idea of strengthening those pleasant fraternal bonds 
made while in college and of forming an organized ally 
to the college chapter at Mt. Union College.” 

Co-operation with Gamma Chapter has been very 
close throughout the intervening years. In 1917 when 
the fraternity house was built the alumnae chapter as- 


Boston Alumnae Chapter 


171 


sumed the financing of the house, leaving to the college 
chapter the financial problems involved in providing fur¬ 
niture for it. Many plans were followed in the raising 
of funds. One, particularly successful, was employed 
by Mary Emily Kay. Her European travel had made 
her familiar with many Italian and French shops. She 
purchased at producer’s prices cameos, laces, linens, 
beads, scarfs and embroideries. These articles met with 
a ready sale and the commission realized on them was 
donated to Gramma’s house fund. 

In 1909 the trustees of Mt. Union College planned the 
endowment of a woman’s professorship as a fitting 
memorial to the fact that Mt. Union was the first of all 
American colleges to offer the same opportunities to 
women as to men. Alpha Xi Delta alumnae took an 
active part in the work of raising the funds necessary 
for this purpose. Out of the original campaign com¬ 
mittee grew the Mt. Union College Association, through 
which our alumnae, working with other interested women, 
are still active in behalf of their alma mater. 

The second alumnae chapter, that in Boston, was or¬ 
ganized immediately after the installation of Lambda 
Chapter, March 8, 1907. Forty-five women, of whom 
twenty-five were alumnae, were initiated during the in* 
stallation service. College and alumnae chapters always 
observe Founders’ Day together. Two college members 
attend each of the alumnae meetings in order that the 
chapters may preserve a close contact. 

In 1910 the alumnae chapter decided to offer a scholar¬ 
ship to the most successful student in education, then a 
new course of instruction. As it was several years be¬ 
fore the scholarship would be due, it was given in the 
intervening years to a needy girl in Jackson College. The 
chapter was gratified that on the first year in which the 
scholarship was awarded for successful work in education 
it was won by an Alpha Xi Delta, Inez Gray. 

In 1914 it was decided that the reward would thence¬ 
forth go to that girl who at the end of her junior year 


172 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


‘ 1 shall have maintained the highest excellence in a course 
of study broadly and wisely chosen. ’ ’ In 1916 the effort 
was begun to raise a fund large enough that its interest 
would each year yield the amount of the scholarship, 
fifty dollars. A benefit concert marked the beginning of 
the campaign. 

Alpha Xi Delta took part in the organization of the 
Boston City Panhellenic Association, December 2, 1921, 
being well represented at the meeting held for that pur¬ 
pose at the Copley Plaza. 

A charter was granted to the Seattle Alumnae Chapter 
in 1909. Adelaide Fischer, Nu, writes of it: 

For the first five or six years the members of the 
chapter were content to aid the college chapter in every 
possible way and to continue among themselves the close 
friendships of college days. In 1915 Seattle Alumnae 
realized the necessity of giving itself to outsiders if it 
would be a truly worth-while organization. With the 
Christmas charity of that year, a regular program of 
philanthropic work was begun. The following year two 
girls from the Parental School were given clothing. For 
two years during the war a French orphan was supported 
by the chapter and extra meetings were held during the 
month to sew for French relief. 

During the past year, 1922, members of the Seattle 
Alumnae have been interested in bringing good cheer to 
the Puth School, a home for delinquent girls. Once a 
month a committee calls at the home, really visits with 
the girls, gives a musical entertainment, makes candy, or 
otherwise plays “big sister” to these girls who are under 
the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court. One of the girls 
of this school recently began a nurse ’s training course in 
a local hospital and Seattle Alumnae Chapter has pledged 
itself to supply her with shoes and stockings during the 
two years training period. Material for two dresses was 
also lately purchased for another young girl whose need 
was brought to the attention of the chapter by Florence 


Seattle Alumnce Chapter 


173 


Ball, Nu, Juvenile Court investigator, Lela Parker-Pitt- 
man, Nu, volunteered to make the garments. 

Throughout the history of Seattle Alumnae Chapter 
there has been the aspiration to finance a house for Nu 
and this ambition was partly realized in April, 1920, 
when a corporation of college and alumnae members was 
formed. At this time each corporation member signed 
notes to the value of one hundred twenty dollars, payable 
in ten equal installments. From these notes as well as 
from the proceeds of sales, a substantial beginning has 
been made. 

At the present writing, September, 1922, Seattle 
Alumnae Chapter has about sixty-five members in good 
standing. To accommodate many of the girls who are 
in offices and who cannot attend the Saturday afternoon 
luncheon and meeting, it was voted in 1921 to hold each 
alternate meeting in the evening with an informal dinner 
or pickle-mix preceding. Most of these evening meet¬ 
ings have taken place at the chapter-house, permitting 
the alumnae to become better acquainted with the college 
girls. This plan of frequently getting together in the 
evening has proven so successful in keeping our business 
girls in the chapter that it gives every indication of be¬ 
coming a permanent part of our chapter history. 

We have a few customs or traditions. First, there 
are the Alpha Xi Delta teaspoons for brides. A half 
dozen of these spoons are given to each member who 
marries, provided she has belonged to the chapter for 
one year preceding her manage. The chapter has also 
made a tradition of the Founders’ Day celebration. This 
takes the form of a formal banquet, held on the Saturday 
evening closest to April 17, and is always carefully 
planned weeks in advance, with the aid of the college 
chapter. Finally, the annual Christmas bazaar occupies 
a most conspicuous place in the life of the alumnae chapter, 
absorbing interest and attention throughout the work of 
the year. Each year as the experience of the chapter 
widens along that line, the bazaar becomes larger and 


174 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

more elaborate until this year, 1922, it will be an all-day 
affair held in one of the down-town hotels, with a light 
luncheon to be served at noon, tea and cards in the after¬ 
noon ending with a dance in the evening. 

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Alumnae Chapter was or¬ 
ganized in 1911. For a while meetings were held with the 
college chapter but after a time the alumnae chapter 
began meeting separately once a month, though it con¬ 
tinued to use the chapter rooms. 

The first money laid in a house fund was collected 
through the dues of the alumnae chapter. Later a cor¬ 
poration was formed and the home now occupied by Mu 
purchased. The alumnae do much household sewing for 
the chapter-house, giving occasional house showers and 
remember its needs at Christmas time. 

In 1914 the alumnae presented the college chapter with 
a loving cup. Each year the name of the girl having the 
highest scholastic standing is engraved upon it. 

At the monthly meetings of the alumnae chapter 
friends are invited to come to tea and a lecture at four 
o’clock. These lectures are informal talks upon some 
timely topic. Two extremely interesting ones given dur¬ 
ing 1922-23 were “Americanization Work in Twin Cities” 
by Dr. E. A. Koenig and “Camp Fire” by a leader of 
for it and also because the meetings at which sewing is 
a large number of the members; both because of the need 
girls in that movement. Future plans include subjects of 
interest to teachers, social workers, polititians, mothers 
and bachelor girls. 

The plan of monthly stunts for raising money has 
been developed. Card parties and bake sales are par¬ 
ticularly popular. The alumnae chapter has a booth at 
Mu’s annual Christmas bazaar. Half of the returns from 
this booth go into Mu’s house fund. The other half buys 
hospital work of the chapter. The sewing has interested 
material from which is made clothing for the convalescent 
children in the university hospital. This is the regular 


New York Alumnce Chapter 


175 


done are held in members’ homes and better acquaintance 
is fostered among the attending women. 

In 1920 the dues of the chapter were raised from one 
dollar to two dollars a year. The added dollar covered 
a subscription to The Alpha Xi Delta. This action was 
taken in response to a plea from the national organiza¬ 
tion for better alumnae support of the journal. 

The chapter entertains each of its bride-elects, pre¬ 
senting her with a set of teaspoons, engraved with the 
fraternity letters. Thus she enters her new life, bearing 
with her the good wishes of her sisters. 

Marguerite Faulhaber, Eta, in writing of the New 
York Alumnae Chapter in June, 1922, said: 

As regards the early New York Alumnae Chapter, 
from the founding of the original chapter about 1911 or 
1912 to the disintegration of the organization in 1916, 
only the scantiest information is at hand and hence very 
little can be said. 

For some time prior to the actual reorganizing the 
need of such action was recognized and discussed. It 
was felt that the New York Alumnae Chapter with all its 
possibilities should be standing for a great deal in many 
ways, both of itself and as a part of the national organi¬ 
zation., Accordingly, on May 22, 1920, a small group of 
alumnae members from Eta met at the home of one of 
them at Mt. Vernon, N. Y., and took the first definite 
steps toward the forming of a new chapter. The follow¬ 
ing November 27, the first regular monthly meeting of 
the new association was held. 

An election was held; a committee appointed to secure 
hospital work to be done at meetings and it was voted 
that the chapter ally itself with the new Panhellenic As¬ 
sociation of the City of New York, then being formally 
organized. Later in the year, in accordance with the 
recommendation of the New York Panhellenic to that 
effect, Alpha Xi Delta, along with all the other frater¬ 
nities represented in the association, adopted the first 
Saturday of every month during the college year as the 


176 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

time for fraternity meeting. Thus a common meeting 
date was established and a step taken toward one of the 
Panhellenic goals—complete interfraternity co-operation. 
This schedule was to be adhered to as closely as possible 
but was subject to occasional change by any individual 
fraternity when deemed necessary or advisable. 

Beyond these moves, the main point to be told regard¬ 
ing the meetings of the year 1920-21 is that they were all 
held at the homes of various members, and that whenever 
it could be obtained, hospital sewing was done. The in¬ 
stitutions worked for that year were the Woman’s 
Hospital of New York and the Mt. Vernon, N. Y., 
Hospital. 

Considerable inconvenience of one kind and another 
was experienced through convening in a different place 
each month. Even before the end of that first year the 
possibility of a centrally located, permanent meeting- 
place for the next year was being informally discussed. 
The opening of the following season found this question 
one of the main ones under consideration. Before the 
third meeting of the year a suitable place had been pro¬ 
cured—two cozy rooms at 52 East 25 Street—where the 
meetings have been held from that time up to the present. 

The securing of this location was made possible 
through the influence of Winnafred Corwin-Robinson, 
Theta. The building is operated as a tearoom and the 
use of part of its second floor is granted Alpha Xi Delta 
for meetings without charge, provided simple refresh¬ 
ments are purchased from the tearoom. The expense is 
made very light by having two or three members act as 
hostess together each time. 

During the year 1921-22 the practice was continued, so 
far as possible, of doing hospital work; this time for 
Yonkers, N. Y., Hospital. 

The principal accomplishment of the year, apart from 
the securing of permanent clubrooms, was the raising of 
over fifty dollars for the National Scholarship Fund by 
means of two parties for Alpha Xi Deltas and their 


New York Alumnae Chapter 


177 


friends. The first of these was an evening masquerade 
party at a tearoom on Greenwich Street, then operated 
by Winnafred Corwin-Robinson, Theta. The second was 
an afternoon card party at the clubrooms, held in place 
of the regular monthly meeting. Both were very suc¬ 
cessful, socially as well as financially. 

The New York Panhellenic Association has grown 
rapidly in strength and importance. After practically 
only two years of existence plans are fairly well on the 
way for a Panhellenic House in New York City, a pro¬ 
ject worthy of a society representing more than three 
thousand fraternity women in the city, and one which 
will be carried to successful completion in the reasonably 
near future. 

Panhellenic has so far held two large spring lunch¬ 
eons, both at the Hotel Astor, with about four hundred 
women in attendance at each; and one autumn tea held at 
Milbank Hall, Barnard College and attended by about 
three hundred women. The constitution calls for at least 
one general meeting a year, the form to be left to the dis¬ 
cretion of the acting board. 

This board consists of one official delegate from each 
member fraternity, the president not being considered a 
delegate. At its bi-monthly meetings all the real busi¬ 
ness of the organization is transacted. At these gather¬ 
ings visiting delegates from any of the fraternities are 
always welcome. 

Alpha Xi Delta has been actively represented in the 
association since the very beginning. The first delegate 
was Marguerite F. Faulhaber, Eta, and the second Win¬ 
nafred Corwin-Robinson, Theta. 

Myrtle Lovdal-Rosenthal, Omicron, has written the 
history of the San Francisco Alumnae Chapter, which she 
long served as a most efficient journal correspondent. 

During the years of 1914 and 1915 there was an at¬ 
tempt on the part of some of Omicron’s alumnae members 
to meet together once in a while, but no definite organiza¬ 
tion existed until the fall of 1916. The object of organiz- 


178 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

ing was mainly to help the college chapter which was at 
that time planning to move into a larger house and was in 
need of a great many new furnishings. The custom was 
formed of having the alumnae chapter manage an annual 
bazaar, the proceeds of which were to go to Omicron’s 
needs. Most of these bazaars have been very successful 
and have helped to meet several of the large payments 
when the girls first bought the chapter-house. 

A secondary motive in organizing was to keep the 
girls in touch with each other after they left college. I 
think that is the thing that means most to us now in our 
alumnae organization. It is the tie that binds many of 
us, who, with our varying pursuits in life, would other¬ 
wise drift apart. Here, at our monthly meeting, held 
on the second Saturday of each month, with the exception 
possibly of June and July, at the homes of various -mem¬ 
bers, the busy school teacher, the prominent doctor, the 
contented house-wife and mother, the active business 
woman, as well as the social butterfly come together with 
the common tie of fraternalism. It is in no other way 
that such a group could be united. Say what one will 
regarding the cultivation of a spirit of helpfulness and 
the power of co-operation, I think the fraternity’s best 
gift to us all is the bond of friendship that clings through 
the years and makes us know that wherever there is an 
Alpha Xi Delta there also is a friend. 

I have said that the object of organization was mainly 
to help the college chapter financially. We have done 
this through our management of and donations to their 
annual bazaars, through card parties and by personal 
subscription. The college chapter, however, due largely 
to the very efficient management of Alicia George, and 
the proceeds of card parties given by the Mothers 9 Club, 
is now quite capable of handling its own needs. Our 
efforts at present are centered on raising money to make 
up our quota of the National Scholarship Fund. Once 
that is done, we can resume our charity work. 

We have had various channels for such work. All 


San Francisco Alumnae Chapter 


179 


during the war and until last spring, we paid for the care 
of a French orphan. During the time when there was a 
Panhellenic Association here we contributed our share of 
toys and food for the Christmases provided by that or¬ 
ganization. There being no Panhellenic organization 
now, our Christmas charity is left to the discretion of one 
of our girls whose work brings her in contact with the 
needs of certain poor families. This year, 1922, we pro¬ 
vided toys for five families of children. The children had 
been told that they could hang up their stockings—for 
the first time in their little lives! Imagine their joy at 
receiving more than one toy apiece. 

We have at other times helped individual cases, as in 
the case of the destitute family of one of our own de¬ 
ceased girls. Elizabeth Kedrolovansky was one of our 
founders and our first Phi Beta Kappa. Word came to 
us that her family was starving in Russia, so money was 
immediately sent for their relief. 

Aside from the very pleasant motive of getting to¬ 
gether at our monthly meetings, many of us feel that we 
must have some more legitimate excuse for our existence. 
We should do something big. We have big women doing 
things individually in a big way. We have Hilda Howard 
way over in Riga, Latvia, doing Y. W. C. A. work; we 
have Olive Johnson, National President of Alpha Xi 
Delta, doing notable work here in the Americanization 
division of the Y. W. C. A.; we have Dr. Alice Maxwell, 
assistant to Dr. Frank Lynch who is head of the Depart¬ 
ment of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University of 
California Hospital. Not only has she won special repute 
as a successful surgeon, hut she has, together with Dr. 
Lynch, published a hook on their special line of work. 

We have also, Dr. Alma Pennington who was House 
Physician at Yassar College and who is now establishing 
a practice in San Francisco; we have Evelyn Farrar- 
Skinner, young widow of the late Harold Skinner, nephew 
of the renowed actor, Otis Skinner. She has established 
a name for herself by playing the leading role in the per- 


180 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

formances of Mecca both in New York and on tonr. We 
have Ruth Calden Robinson, always active in some big 
work. This year she was on the Publicity Committee 
for the Alameda County Tuberculosis Society. 

Even as we have girls who are doing big things indivi¬ 
dually, so should we as an organization do something 
truly big, and in this way be of the most value to indivi¬ 
duals and the fraternity. 

A vivid picture of the Des Moines Alumnae Chapter 
comes from the pen of Virginia Hennery-Franklin, Alpha. 

Our Alumnae Chapter was granted a charter Febru¬ 
ary 12, 1920. We had comparatively little trouble in 
organizing since we had a strong Panhellenic in Des 
Moines with other alumnae chapters functioning. It was 
a matter of representation in an organized way. At the 
beginning a very informal group met occasionally and 
tried to foster Alpha Xi Delta spirit but not until we 
secured a charter did we feel any power or purpose. 

Our representative in the City Panhellenic Association 
is Maizie Shriner. For a number of years Miriam Wool- 
son-Brooks, Beta, served as president and acted as toast- 
mistress or was on the program of the Panhellenic Ban¬ 
quet, which is the event of the Panhellenic year. This is 
largely attended, perhaps five hundred women is the 
average attendance. Offices and appearance on the pro¬ 
grams are quite evenly distributed as Des Moines has a 
large Panhellenic Association. 

We meet the first Saturday in every month. A lunch¬ 
eon at a down-town tearoom one month alternates with 
an afternoon at the homes; thereby appealing to both 
those who like the formal luncheons and those who like 
the “at homes.’’ 

We have Alpha Iota Chapter at Drake University 
here in Des Moines. Almost our entire thought and 
activity centers about it. The aim of our chapter at 
present is “service.” Our Drake chapter is all absorb¬ 
ing. I feel that we alumnae are reliving our college days 
in watching this chapter grow and are realizing just 


Kansas City Alumnae Chapter 


181 


what fraternity life means to the future womanhood by 
coming in contact with college girls and their problems. 
I believe we are so busy helping them that we are satur¬ 
ated with Alpha Xi Delta, national spirited as well as 
local. 

Then we plan and plot for our “child” at Drake. 
This year, 1923, we have been asked to help organize 
rushing. While last year the alumnae gave generously of 
time and effort and money, we hope to do even better. 

We give one formal a year to the college chapter, gen¬ 
erally a spring dance at a clubhouse. We always give 
one very elaborate tea or garden party in the fall. Last 
year we had a most delightful Founders’ Day banquet. 
This year we shall probably celebrate more quietly and 
donate that money toward the house fund. We have also 
done without year books and put the money saved into 
the Drake house fund. At present we are helping to 
furnish the chapter-house. 

The account of the Kansas City Alumnae Chapter is 
by Margaret Coleman-Kose, Chi, who was one of its char¬ 
ter members. 

The Kansas City Alumnae Chapter was organized 
October 13,1917, with fourteen active and eight associate 
members. The associate members are out-of-town mem¬ 
bers who live too far away to attend many meetings. 
The active list includes several members who live out as 
far as twenty miles from the city, but these girls are 
among our best workers. 

The chapter requires all of its active members to keep 
up their membership in the Kansas City Panhellenic As¬ 
sociation. During the year 1919-20 Alpha Xi Delta held 
the office of secretary of Panhellenic and during 1920-21 
the office of president. During these years the Kansas 
City Panhellenic had as members all eighteen of the 
National Panhellenic Congress fraternities and an indivi¬ 
dual membership of over five hundred. The Alpha Xi 
Delta Chapter is an active helper in all Panhellenic work, 
which includes (1) serving for child welfare, (2) office 


182 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

work and clinic work for the Children’s Bureau of the 
Government, (3) serving on the i1 Movie Censorship Com¬ 
mittee of the City,” (4) keeping up two high school scho¬ 
larships. The money for these scholarships is raised by 
having rummage sales, moving picture benefits, candy 
sales, musical teas and bridge benefits. In July, 1920, 
when Sigma Kappa was having its national convention 
in Kansas City, the Panhellenic entertained over one 
hundred Sigma Kappas at a luncheon and drive. The 
national officers were the guests of the Panhellenic and 
the delegates were invited to attend as members. 

At the Alpha Xi Delta convention of 1920 the Kansas 
City Chapter had two delegates in attendance and also 
one associate member. 

In March, 1921, when the chapter was appealed to for 
help with Alpha Xi Deltas National Scholarship Fund, 
the individual subscription was one hundred per cent and 
the chapter gave in addition from its treasury. 

With whatever money we receive as dues, we usually 
help Chi Chapter in some way. In December, 1919, on 
the birthday of Chi Chapter the Kansas City Chapter 
presented it with a large, silver loving cup to be known 
as the “Sophomore Scholarship Cup.” Each year the 
name of the sophomore girl with the highest average for 
her two years’ work at Kansas University is engraved 
upon the cup. During the summer of 1920 the chapter 
made five comforters for Chi Chapter, for use by the 
housemother and guests. In April, 1921, on Founders’ 
Day, the alumnae chapter gave to Chi Chapter chintz 
shades and over-drapes for its solarium. 

It has become a custom for the alumnae chapter to hold 
its May meeting at the home of one of the members living 
in Edwardsville, a town midway to Lawrence and on the 
electric line. At this meeting the seniors of Chi Chapter 
are always guests and invited to become members of the 
alumnae chapter. 

The alumnae of Kansas City had an especial treat in 
June, 1921, when Harriet Luella McCollum attended their 


Akron Alumnae Chapter 


183 


meeting. She told of many interesting incidents of the 
life of Alpha Xi Delta as a local before it became a 
national fraternity. Stories of the organization, choos¬ 
ing of the colors, name and badge made real to us all the 
early life of our fraternity. 

The Columbus Alumnae Chapter was organized in 
January, 1920. Interesting first-hand information is 
given in a letter from Grace Cogger-Carlson, Psi. 

We work closely with the college chapter, Psi, supply 
their alumnae adviser, help them with rushing, looking up 
girls and investigating their standing. 

We try to encourage scholarship and to this end have 
adopted the yearly custom of presenting the girl with the 
highest grades for the semester preceding Founders* Day 
with a recognition pin at the banquet. 

We have established PsPs house fund on a firm basis 
by having articles of incorporation drawn up and the 
Alpha Xi Delta Building Corporation of Psi Chapter is 
growing steadily. The alumnae make up the majority of 
the board of directors with two college members. We 
stand back of a systematized campaign of follow up let¬ 
ters to keep alumnae notified of college chapter affairs and 
bring in regular payments on house fund pledges made 
at graduation. We have suggested a monthly payment 
plan as a means of lifting the one hundred dollar pledge 
which all girls make when leaving college and are getting 
regular responses to our monthly statements from our 
first girls, long since out of intimate contact with the col¬ 
lege chapter. 

In the same state with the Columbus group is the 
Akron Alumnae Chapter. It was organized on Founders * 
Day, 1920. Its strictly Alpha Xi Delta purpose is charit¬ 
able work. In 1922 one hundred infant garments were 
made and distributed through a city nurse. In 1923 the 
chapter paid the expenses at Akron University of a 
worthy Italian girl who otherwise would have been unable 
to attend college. 

One of the chapter’s officers is its Panhellenic repre- 


184 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

sentative, whose duty it is to keep the chapter informed 
of what the city Panhellenic requires of it. At the 
time when living conditions in Akron were the most con¬ 
gested in the United States, the city Panhellenic estab¬ 
lished Panhellenic House. It was a home not for fra¬ 
ternity women alone but one to which any college woman 
was welcome. Fifteen girls live there and twenty-seven 
others board there. The project is on a splendid financial 
basis. The Panhellenic association rents the house but 
owns the furnishings. The ruling body of the associa¬ 
tion is the advisory board. The Akron Alumnae Chapter 
owns stock in Panhellenic House and is entitled to a re¬ 
presentative and an alternate representative on the 
board. 

The Springfield Alumnae Chapter has done philan¬ 
thropic work from the time of its organization. Its chief 
aim, however, is to help the college chapter, Zeta. In 
1920 the purchase of Zeta’s chapter-house was financed 
by the alumnae chapter. 

Cleveland Alumnae Chapter, when first organized, was 
composed almost entirely of Gamma alumnae. It was 
most helpful in buying bonds at the time when Gamma ’s 
house was being financed. Its co-operation is no longer 
exclusively with Gamma for its membership is now 
drawn from all of the Ohio chapters. 

The Champaign-Urbana Alumnae Chapter was organ¬ 
ized in 1919. Its chief activity centers about Kappa’s 
building fund and through its efforts the recent purchase 
of a building spot was made possible. 

Not far from Champaign is the Mt. Pleasant Alumnae 
Chapter. It was first organized in 1906 but was re¬ 
organized in 1916. It co-operates with Beta Chapter in 
many ways, assists in rushing and furnishes the college 
chapter with its alumnae adviser. Ruth Willits, Beta, 
writes: 

In a literary way our chapter is attempting to 
“keep up” with the best of the contemporary plays and 
novels. We studied and read modern plays for two 


Iowa City Alumnae Chapter 


185 


years and this year, 1923, we are reviewing the most 
prominent new novels. 

There has also been a tentative plan made whereby 
we are hoping to help beautify our college grounds and 
campus. What we are doing for the college girls out¬ 
side of our college chapter is this: many girls are coming 
here in rather poor financial conditions. Some of us have 
taken in one of these girls in our homes and, in return 
for some slight help with the housework and staying with 
the children certain evenings, are giving them their 
board, room and laundry. 

The Tacoma Alumnae Chapter was the second alumnae 
chapter to be charted in the state of Washington. Due 
to small numbers it existed as an informal organization 
for two years preceding 1921 in which year it reached 
its goal of ten members. 

The group is an enthusiastic one. It subscribed one 
hundred per cent to the National Scholarship Fund. Its 
hospital work is done for the Cushman Hospital which 
cares for ex-service men. As the members sew, they 
read and discuss some volume of modern drama or fiction. 
A gift of the book is then made to the hospital library. 

The Los Angeles Chapter is the only alumnae chapter 
besides Mt. Pleasant and Tacoma which reported special 
interest in things literary. It had an Ibsen course one 
year, ‘‘Peer Gynt” being the first work taken up. 

Omaha Alumnae Chapter, organized late in 1921, in¬ 
vited Rho Chapter to its first Christmas party. Lincoln 
Alumnae Chapter co-operates closely with Rho Chapter. 
One of its members, Lenore Fitzgerald-Clark had the 
chapter-house in “apple-pie order” for the state fair one 
year and rented rooms to visitors. Of the seventy dol¬ 
lars she cleared through this venture, thirty-five dollars 
was placed in the hospital fund of the alumnae chapter 
and the other thirty-five dollars used in decorating the 
house. 

Iowa City Alumnae Chapter is most closely interested 
in Sigma Chapter. It shares the work and fun of its 


186 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Christmas bazaars, aiding materially in making them 
successful. 

Galesburg Alumnae Chapter was organized in 1915. It 
has presented to Alpha Chapter a scholarship cup on 
which is engraved each year the name of the girl having 
the highest scholastic standing. The chapter sews for a 
local hospital and has, at different times, contributed 
money to the visiting nurses association. It also helped 
materially in financing the building of Alpha ’s lodge. 

Since the time of its organization, the Detroit Alumnae 
Chapter has been a member of the Detroit Panhellenic 
Association. This association has presented a loving cup 
to the college Panhellenic association of the University 
of Michigan. The cup is to be awarded each year to the 
women’s fraternity having the highest scholastic aver¬ 
age. 

The Detroit Chapter has not confined its hospital 
work entirely to sewing, for in 1921 it made a donation of 
interesting books to the hospital for which it was 
working. 

Madison Alumnae Chapter was organized in 1915. It 
has been most helpful in the purchase of both Theta’s 
first and second chapter-house. In addition to sewing 
for the Madison Hospital the alumnae chapter determined 
to endow a room in it in the name of Theta Chapter. It 
is securing the endowment fund by devoting one hundred 
dollars a year to that purpose. 

Theta Chapter has also the interested help of the Mil¬ 
waukee Alumnae Chapter. That chapter was chartered 
in 1921 and its first work as an organization was the re¬ 
plenishment of the supply of dishes at Theta’s chapter- 
house. Its hospital work has been sewing for the Infant’s 
Hospital, a charity hospital caring only for babies. 

Lexington Alumnae Chapter co-operates most closely 
with Xi Chapter. When Xi Chapter first moved into a 
house in 1921, the alumnae furnished the diningroom. 
The tables are long and narrow with quaint benches 
which slide beneath them when not in use. The design 


Pittsburgh Alumnce Chapter 


187 


was that of one of the girls and a local factory made the 
pieces. The members of the college chapter stained them, 
thus taking their part in perfecting a most unusual and 
charming room. 

Pittsburgh Alumnae Chapter was organized in 1912. 
Its membership has grown from eleven to more than 
sixty, representing ten college chapters. Mabel Cunning¬ 
ham, Zeta, writes of it: 

We have been members of the city Panhellenic for 
many years, and last year our girls had the largest mem¬ 
bership therein of any fraternity. 

This year, 1922-23, we have published a Year Book, 
containing our program, two meetings of which will be 
devoted to philanthropic purposes. 

For three years our Alpha Alpha Chapter of the Uni¬ 
versity of Pittsburgh has held the scholarship cup. No 
higher praise could be given to its girls that to say that 
in all lines of endeavor they are deserving of similar 
commendation. 

Some of our girls are teachers in our high schools, 
some are mothers of fine, healthy children, some hold 
business positions with highest efficiency and others com¬ 
plete the family circle, adding to the happiness of parents 
and helping to fulfill the span of years with valuable 
service. 

We are interested in philanthropy, music, literature, 
art and science. Each year we try to improve our service 
to Alpha Xi Delta by raising our standards of life, ren¬ 
dering thereby more efficiently our efforts to serve hu¬ 
manity. 

Syracuse Alumnae Chapter helped make possible the 
purchase of an ideally located house for Eta Chapter. 
The tables in the dining-room were the gift of the alumnae 
of the classes of 1914 and 1915 and the New York Alumnae 
Chapter. 

Early in its history the alumnae chapter formed the 
custom of presenting a five dollar gold piece to the fresh¬ 
man having the highest grades for the year. Later the 



Frances Dana Crane Edna Dana Crane, Beta 

Beta and Alpha Theta 



Alethea Elizabeth Smith, Theta Mary Randall Smith, Beta 

Mother and Daughter Alpha Xi Deltas 






Chicago Alumnae Chapter 


189 


award was changed to a loving cnp which is held for the 
succeeding twelve months. An “activity locket” is 
awarded at the same time as the cup. It is conferred 
upon the girl who has been most active during the year in 
the worth-while organizations of the campus. 

The Chicago Alumnae Chapter was organized in 1912. 
Its custom has been to hold one meeting a month, usually 
a luncheon at one of the down-town tearooms. During 
the war this custom was temporarily discarded in favor 
of afternoon meetings in the member’s homes. Not only 
was an opportunity thus afforded for sewing for French 
relief but a saving of food was also accomplished. The 
chapter supported a French orphan throughout the peri¬ 
od of need. In 1917 the Chicago Alumnae Chapter assisted 
in the formation of the City Panhellenic Association of 
Chicago. When the National Panhellenic Congress 
meets in Chicago it is customary for the alumnae chapter 
of the fraternity to which the acting chairman of the con¬ 
gress belongs to serve as hostess. Since Lena Grandin 
Baldwin served as chairman of the congress of 1917, the 
Chicago Alumnae Chapter was its hostess, a committee 
of its members being on duty each day. Each National 
Panhellenic Congress closes with a luncheon to which all 
members of the National Panhellenic Congress frater¬ 
nities are invited. It has been the pride of the Chicago 
Alumnae Chapter to see that Alpha Xi Delta was well 
represented at the luncheon of each congress which has 
met in Chicago. 

The Chicago Chapter is deeply interested in Alpha 
Theta Chapter at Northwestern University. This inter¬ 
est existed during the life of the chapter as a local and 
was evidenced at the time of installation by the attend¬ 
ance of the alumnae chapter in a body. The interest con¬ 
tinues and expresses itself in the very definite form of 
helping with the house fund of the college chapter. 

In 1922-23 four alumnae chapters were chartered: 
Mahoning Valley Alumnae which centers in Youngstown, 
Ohio; the St. Louis Alumnae which is already active in 



Mother and Daughter 
Alpha Xi Deltas 

Jessie Hillyer Donaldson, Gamma, and 
her daughter, Dorothy Donaldson, Iota. 





National Alumna Organization 


191 


the city Panhellenic; Cedar Rapids Alumnae which will 
aid Alpha Gamma Chapter and the Indianapolis Alumnae. 
At the time of writing, June, 1923, petitions are in prep¬ 
aration by alumnae groups in Canton, Ohio, and Miami, 
Florida. 

While the alumnae chapters take care of an increasing¬ 
ly large number of alumnae members, there are still a 
great many loyal alumnae who live too far from either 
college or alumnae chapter to keep intimately in touch 
with them. The Sixth Convention, 1911, made an effort 
to solve the problem of unbroken contact with these scat¬ 
tered members and give to them a means through which 
they might express their fraternity spirit. It provided 
that there be an alumnae organization, to be formed by an 
alumnae organizer; that alumnae not belonging to some 
alumnae chapter be its members, paying a fee of twenty- 
five cents a year. This fee was intended to finance the 
great amount of correspondence such an organization 
necessarily entailed. 

Such progress was made with the work that it was 
continued by the Seventh Convention, Edna Johnson- 
Austin, Lambda, being appointed as alumnae organizer. 

The Eighth Convention, 1915, further provided that 
each member of this organization hear from the frater¬ 
nity at least once a year. This work was to be done by a 
group of volunteers, either college or alumnae members. 
These volunteers were to be given a course of training in 
fraternity and Panhellenic education by means of special 
bulletins—the work all to be under the direction of the 
alumnae organizer. Mrs. Austin was again appointed to 
serve in that capacity. 

By action of the Eleventh Convention, 1922, the office 
of alumnae organizer was merged with that of the national 
vice-president. It was construed to include not only the 
direction of the work among the scattered members but 
also the active encouragement of the formation of new 
alumnae chapters. 

The work of the alumnae is an important phase of the 




Jeanette Teets, Gamma 


Margaret Lewis Teets 



Grace Miller Barnard, Gamma 


Dorothy Miller Barnard, 

Gamma 

Mother and Daughter Alpha Xi Deltas 








National Alumnw Organization 


193 


fraternity’s life. Each chapter is building not only a 
record of accomplishment but is representative of the en¬ 
during influence of Alpha Xi Delta in producing the 
highest type of American womanhood. In their fraternal 
relations and in all life’s manifold experiences the 
alumnae of Alpha Xi Delta express and fulfill the thought 
in the heart of the rose. 

O dear earnest sisters beloved I 
Gazing down in the heart of the rose, 

Through bitter and sweet, through gain and defeat, 

Cherish the thought that there grows. 

And the thought in the heart of the rose 
Will gladden your lives hour by hour; 

And dear love’s beauty will glorify duty 
With the blooms of our bright Alpha flower. 


CHAPTER VII 


INSIGNIA AND HERALDRY 

T HE well loved badge of Alpha Xi Delta is a quill 
embellished by raised Greek letters of burnished 
gold on the feathers. It is always worn over the 
heart, the position adopted by our founders. They gave 
much thought to the selection of an outward emblem 
which would truly symbolize their ideals, which would be 
an expression to the world of all that they longed to ful¬ 
fill in their fraternal life and which would ever quicken 
the conscience of its wearer to the duties and obligations 
imposed by its symbolism. The design of a quill, drawn 



with a pink rose showing above it, which was presented 
by Louie Strong-Taylor, was among the many sugges¬ 
tions. This was finally chosen and at the first of all 
Alpha Xi Delta functions, given on May 11, 1893, the 
first quill was reproduced in the favors. Written upon 
the back of each was a quotation from Lowell: 

If I were a rose at your window 
Happiest rose of its crew, 

Every blossom I bore would bend inward, 

They'd know where the sunshine grew. 

The original badges were similar to those now worn. 
The quill was approximately seven-eighths of an inch in 




Insignia and Heraldry 


195 


length, but in the beginning they were stickpins. Several 
years later the change was made to clasp pins. At that 
time jewels were allowed at the pleasure of the wearer. 
The first jewelled badge was made for Cora Bollinger- 
Block by Lamphere, at Galesburg. It was set with three 
jewels in the shaft, a sapphire flanked on each side with 
a turquoise. During the early years the badges varied 
slightly from each other in size, shape of feathers and 
choice of jewels. A few badges were made with the 
initials in black enamel instead of burnished gold. 

The first indication of a desire for standardization of 
the badge was made in the address of Grand President 
Leib to the Fifth Convention. It was not until two years 
later, in 1911, that this was accomplished. A definite die 
was adopted for the official badge and the choice of jewels 
limited to pearls or diamonds, set within the shaft. To 
further insure uniformity in the badge, each convention 
since the Sixth has appointed an official jeweler or jewel¬ 
ers to serve until the following convention. Orders are 
filled only when received from both the college chapter 
and the Custodian of the Badge. The executive Secretary 
serves as Custodian of the Badge. 

In some colleges, when a fraternity woman accepts a 
man’s fraternity pin as the sign of their betrothal, the 
custom exists of chaining their pins together. This 
usage was discussed and prohibited by the Tenth Con¬ 
vention, 1920, which provided that no emblem shall be 
chained to the badge of Alpha Xi Delta save a chapter 
letter, which may be either plain or jewelled in pearls or 
diamonds. The Eleventh Convention, 1922, confirmed 
this ruling. 

At the time of our beginning, pledging was done with 
ribbons, then the usual custom among fraternities. With 
the change to clasp pins, pledging was done with the quill 
stickpins used with the ribbons. Alpha Chapter con¬ 
tinued the use of this quill pledge pin until the adoption 
of the one now in use. Following the nationalization of 
the fraternity, 1903, the sentiment developed that the use 


196 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

of the quill should be restricted entirely to the badge. At 
the Second Convention, 1904, a committee was appointed, 
consisting of Mary Emily Kay, Eloise Patton-McKnight 
and Fern Fogle-Holtz, all of Gamma, who were to design 
a pledge pin. This committee selected the present design 
—an ellipse of black enamel with edge of bevelled gold 
and with Greek letters in gold upon the black background. 

The recognition pin, to be worn on outer clothing 
which conceals the badge, is a triangle of black enamel 
bearing the three letters, Alpha Xi Delta. The Tenth 
Convention, 1920, appointed Kappa Chapter as a com- 



Blazon of Alpha Xi Delta Arms 

Arms-'-Azure, on a fess argent a quill pen proper; in chief three roses 
of the second, and in base a sword in bend sinister proper; hilt and 
pommel or. The blade broken at centre, and the end placed parallel, with 
tip at base point. 

Crest—A full blown rose proper, stemmed and leaves vert. 

Supporters—Two griffins rampant—each queue looped proper. 

Motto: ALPHA XI DELTA. 




Insignia and Heraldry 


197 


mittee to submit new designs. This committee was con¬ 
tinued by the Eleventh Convention, 1922. 

The coat-of-arms of Alpha Xi Delta was designed by 
Marion Wrigley-Fischer, Alpha, and Axie Lute-Mitchell, 
Beta, serving as a committee appointed by the Second 
Convention, 1904. 

As selected at the time of founding, the colors were 
light and dark blue. The gold was added when the ritual 
was revised at the time of nationalization because it com¬ 
pleted the thought to be expressed by the colors. When 
worn that prophetic day of our first entrance into Lom¬ 
bard chapel, the ribbons were tied into a bow knot caught 
into place with a few stitches, there being two loops and 
two ends of each shade. The bows measured three inches 
in length. For a time much larger clusters of ribbon 
were worn, but the present usage is a small, flat bow in 
which the over-lapping ribbons are placed side by side, 
with the badge or pledge pin worn in their center. 

The pink rose was chosen as their flower by our 
founders in compliment to the white rose of Sigma Nu. 
In this manner Alpha Xi Delta recognized the help and 
encouragement received in the difficult task of organiza¬ 
tion from and through the members of Sigma Nu. The 
flower so chosen has rooted itself deep in the heart of the 
fraternity. It has taken its place in the ritual and in our 
most loved songs and has given rise to the beautiful serv¬ 
ice of the rose jar. 

The adoption of a standard banner to replace the var¬ 
ious flags and pennants then in use, was suggested by 
Grand President Leib in 1909. Anna Wallis, Xi, was 
appointed as a committee of one for this work. Two 
years later the Sixth Convention adopted the design she 
submitted. The banner is a standard of three horizontal 
bars; the top and bottom ones of dark blue, the top bar 
bearing ten stars in gold and the bottom bar a gold quill. 
The middle bar is of light blue with the fraternity letters 
in gold. Following the adoption of the design, Miss 


198 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


Wallis with Xi Chapter as her committee made the first 
official banner for the fraternity. 

In 1922 Almira Cheney, one of our founders, wrote of 
the Alpha Xi Delta cheer: 

Delta! Delta! Alpha Xi Delta! 

Anig banan geefen way! 

Sprechen Sie wohl, Alpha Xi Delta! 

Avons 1 ’intention rester! 

The second line is simply Anglo Saxon words strung together and 
means nothing. The third line is German, “You say well, Alpha Xi 
Delta,” and the last line is French. “Having the intention to stay!” 
We put that last line in apropos of the fact that there had been several 
locals before we started and we wished to serve notice that we were going 
to stay. 

I was one of the committee that labored over the yell. We all con¬ 
tributed gray matter, so no one person wrote it. We were great devotees 
of the yell. We always gave it when we started home from meeting and 
often several times on the way. I was frequently what is now denominated 
“cheer leader.” The yell was adopted along with everything else. As 
I remember it, we had it all ready for use when we emerged from our sub 
rosa existence, April 17, ’93. 

The selection of a whistled call gave to our founders 
much merry perplexity. That finally chosen has been 
transcribed by Alice Bartlett-Brunner and Eliza Curtis- 
Everton. 



It was slurred and accented in whistling as it is writ¬ 
ten. For thirty years it has been sounded on many a 
campus, calling sister to sister, and never failing to bring 
a quick response. 

The seal was designed at the time of nationalization 
when the necessity for written charters arose, to which 
use primarily it has been confined. The seal has never 












Insignia and Heraldry 


199 


been changed but an impression is now made instead of 
affixing a golden wafer as in the past. 



The varied insignia of the fraternity are but symbols, 
expressing an idea so dear that it permits the constant 
repetition without loss of charm. As the melody in a 
musical composition is repeated over and over again, 
ever varied and yet ever the same, so we render the heart 
melody of Alpha Xi Delta through these many signs, 
all beloved and all familiar through long usage. 


CHAPTER VIII 


ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT 

T HE Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity is a corporation 
chartered under the laws of the State of Ohio. By 
this corporate grant Alpha Xi Delta is composed 
of college chapters and alumnaB chapters. 

The members of each college chapter are chosen en¬ 
tirely and exclusively from among active undergraduate 
or postgraduate students of the college or university 
wherein the chapter is situated. Students so chosen must 
not be members or former members of any secret Greek- 
letter general fraternity and may be regularly initiated 
only by a college chapter. 

The members of the alumnae chapters are alumnae of 
college chapters who live within convenient or accessible 
distances of each other and who have united in petition¬ 
ing for and receiving a charter as an alumnae chapter. 

The supreme power and jurisdiction over both college 
and alumnae chapters and the individual members of the 
fraternity is vested in the National Chapter. The Na¬ 
tional Chapter is comprised of two delegates from each 
college and each alumnae chapter, the national officers of 
council rank, all past National Presidents and the orig¬ 
inal founders of the fraternity. Absence forfeits the vote 
of any member of the National Chapter except repre¬ 
sentatives of the collegiate and alumnas chapters who are 
entitled to vote by proxy. 

The National Chapter meets in convention biennially, 
at such time and place as the National Council deter¬ 
mines. The business of the conventions is handled pri¬ 
marily by six committees whose members are appointed 
by the National President. These six committees and 
their duties are: 


Organization and Government 


201 


1. The Committee on Jurisprudence considers such 
questions, documents, papers or decisions of fraternity 
law and organization as may be referred to it. It pre¬ 
sents recommendations and proposed legislation for the 
consideration of and action by the National Chapter in 
convention. 

2. The Committee of Credentials examines the cre¬ 
dentials of all persons claiming the right and benefits of 
membership in the convention, approves and lists the 
names of all national officers, delegates and members, 
reporting the same at the first session of convention. 

3. The Committee on Appeals and Titles reports 
upon all appeals from the proceedings of previous con¬ 
ventions or from the decision of any chapter. Such an 
appeal may be made by a chapter or by an individual 
member. 

4. The Committee on Financing and Auditing ex¬ 
amines and audits the accounts of the National Treasurer 
and also considers and reports upon all financial matters 
and questions referred to it. 

5. The Committee on Grievances reports upon any 
complaints or grievance appertaining to discipline which 
may have been referred to it. 

6. The Committee on Fraternity Dead submits fitting 
resolutions at each convention upon the deaths of mem¬ 
bers since the meeting of the last convention. 

Of these six committees, the Committee on Fraternity 
Dead is the only one which serves the full term of two 
years. The other committees exist and function only for 
the period of the convention. During the interval of 
time elapsing between conventions the National Council 
assumes the duties of the Committee on Jurisprudence. 

In addition to the Committee on Fraternity Dead 
there are two other standing committees; the Constitu¬ 
tional Committee and the Extension Committee. The 
Constitutional Committee, consisting of three members, 
is appointed by the National President. It reviews the 
constitution and considers all constitutional changes rec- 


202 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

ommended before making its report to the National 
Chapter. 

The chairman of the Extension Committee is elected 
by the convention. The National President appoints the 
other three members of this committee. Its duties are 
those naturally attendant upon and incident to the exten¬ 
sion of the fraternity. 

The five ranking national officers, president, vice- 
president, executive secretary, treasurer and visitor, 
form the National Council which is the administrative 
and executive body of the fraternity when National Chap¬ 
ter is not in session. The National Council is empowered 
to grant charters for the establishment of new chapters, 
to place existing chapters upon probation and to with¬ 
draw the charter of any chapter failing to observe the 
fundamental principles of the fraternity. The expendi¬ 
ture of the resources of the national treasury for frater¬ 
nity purposes is vested with the National Council as is 
the determining and effecting of measures for the gov¬ 
ernment, extension and general welfare of the fraternity. 
The National Council is authorized to hold meetings in 
non-convention years. 

In addition to the usual duties of her office, the Na¬ 
tional Vice-president is in charge of all alumnae work. 
Assisting her in this work and acting as her deputies are 
the province vice-presidents, who constitute an alumnae 
committee of six members. 

The executive secretary was created in 1918 by the 
merging of the two offices of National Secretary and 
editor-in-chief of The Alpha Xi Delta. The purpose of 
this consolidation was to provide the fraternity with a 
central office and a salaried officer who would devote her 
entire time to the fraternity work and supervise its 
routine business. 

While the office of national visitor was provided for 
in the national constitution adopted in 1902, it was not 
filled actually until 1913 when Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta, 
was elected as its first incumbent. In the two years be- 




























































































204 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

tween conventions the national visitor visits each college 
chapter. She becomes personally acquainted with the 
girls, inspects and audits the chapter records and ac¬ 
counts, holds conferences with the dean of women, the 
alumnae advisor, the chapter chaperon, the patronesses 
and with mothers of the girls whenever practical. When 
possible she meets with the college Panhellenic, usually 
addressing that body and frequently discussing local and 
national Panhellenic conditions. From these many 
sources of information she is enabled to form an accurate 
and comprehensive estimate of the actual condition of 
the chapter and to advise it in a helpful and constructive 
manner. A report of her visit to each chapter is sent 
the National Council and the individual chapter in ques¬ 
tion. 

While the custom of dividing the fraternity into geo¬ 
graphical districts and placing each district under the 
supervision of a national officer had long been practiced, 
the present province system of government was not in¬ 
augurated until 1920 when the fraternity was redistricted 
into six provinces. Over each province the National 
Chapter elected a president who has general supervision 
and control within that province, subject to the National 
President and National Council. The province president 
visits the college chapters in her province in alternate 
years from the visits of the national visitor. She reports 
her opinion of the condition of the chapter to the National 
Council and the individual chapter concerned. 

In 1922 the office of province vice-president was 
created to assist the province president in every w T ay pos¬ 
sible and to act as deputy to the national vice-president 
in her alumnae work. 

In order that the National Chapter may have a rep¬ 
resentative in intimate personal contact with each col¬ 
lege chapter, the National President appoints an alumnae 
adviser for each chapter. The adviser enjoys all the 
privileges of active membership except that of voting 
upon new members. Her duties are left largely to her 


Organization and Government 


205 


own discretion for what is most desired of the alumnae 
adviser is guidance sympathetic enough to adapt itself 
to all possible circumstances. The few fixed duties of 
the alumnae advisors are to conduct the fraternity ex¬ 
aminations, to act as alumnae representative in the college 
Panhellenic and to furnish reports at regular intervals 
to the executive secretary. 

The finances of the fraternity are in the hands of the 
National Treasurer. It is she who draws up the national 
budget and submits it for the approval of the National 
Council. The source of money in the National Treasury 
is from initiation fees, national dues of college members, 
profits on badges and fraternity novelties derived from 
official jewelers and charter fees of college and alumnae 
chapters. From these sources the finances are provided 
to meet the expenditures required by the large volume of 
businss carried on by the national officers and to pay the 
salary of the executive secretary, the cost of visiting col¬ 
lege chapters and installing new chapters, a portion of 
the convention expense of collegiate delegates and the 
expense of the national officers at their required assem¬ 
blies. The National Treasury also assists in financing 
The Alpha Xi Delta and pays the entire cost of the pub¬ 
lication of The Quill . With careful and efficient manage¬ 
ment it has been possible to provide for all these routine 
expenses and from the remainder of the fraternity in¬ 
come to gradually create a National House Fund, from 
which National Council approves non-interest bearing 
loans to college chapters wishing to build or buy chapter- 
houses. For a time all surplus money was added to the 
House Fund. In 1915, the National Chapter repealed the 
ruling that all the surplus must be added to the National 
House Fund and legislated a portion of such money into 
a permanent Endowment Fund. 

Beyond the few necessary reports which keep the Na¬ 
tional Council informed of its progress, the national re¬ 
quirements of and restrictions upon the college chapters 
are very few. Those which do exist have been made by 


206 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

the action of the college chapters as expressed through 
their representatives in national conventions. 

The scholastic standing of each chapter of Alpha Xi 
Delta must be among the highest third of the women’s 
fraternities in the college where it is located. In case of 
three or less fraternities Alpha Xi Delta must not stand 
lowest. The chapter must perform some definite social 
service work. This ruling was adopted in order that 
careful planning might make more efficient the time and 
service already customarily given. The delegating and 
sending of one representative at least to each convention 
of the National Chapter is obligatory as is also placing 
a hound copy of each succeeding volume of The Alpha Xi 
Delta in the library of its chapter-house or hall. 

Likewise the individual members of Alpha Xi Delta 
are left free of restrictions. A life subscription to The 
Alpha Xi Delta must be taken out at the time of initiation 
when also a copy of the songbook must be purchased. 
The national organization requires each initiate to enter 
and to take an active part in two of the worthwhile under¬ 
graduate organizations. 

The relation between a chapter and its pledges is left 
almost entirely to the discretion of the chapter. An 
official expression of opinion has been made by the Na¬ 
tional Chapter in which it stated that regular pledge 
meetings were necessary and would be most helpful. All 
chapters have adopted such meetings as a part of their 
customary life. 

The National Chapter requires that each pledge pass 
fifteen semester hours of college work with an average 
final grade of ten per cent above the mark fixed as pass¬ 
ing by the college. This is a condition precedent to initia¬ 
tion. If the pledge is unable to perform this requirement 
within one year of her pledging her pledge expires and 
may not be renewed without special permission of the 
National Council. 

In order that all members of Alpha Xi Delta may be 
intelligently and fully informed of the fraternity whose 


Organization and Government 


207 


future progress and development rests in their hands, all 
pledges must successfully pass the freshman fraternity 
examination before initiation. 

Alpha Xi Delta was exceedingly fortunate in that her 
national development followed the unsatisfactory period 
ef experiment in the organization and government of 
college fraternities. Benefiting from the experience of 
others, costly mistakes were avoided. The organization 
of our fraternity and its system of government by Na¬ 
tional Chapter and National Council was originally 
adopted in 1902. While the system has been developed 
and adapted by the growth of the fraternity, the original 
and fundamental principles of organization and govern¬ 
ment have remained unaltered throughout the years. 
Thus is demonstrated the completeness and accuracy with 
which our founders built. 


CHAPTER IX 


NATIONAL CONVENTIONS 

S INCE the first convention when delegates from 
Alpha, Beta and Gamma Chapters met to consider 
together how Alpha Xi Delta’s future might best 
be assured, the fraternity has found its greatest benefit 
in the meetings of its Grand Chapter. Here past accom¬ 
plishments are reviewed and future policies determined. 
Here, too, meet the girls from the smaller sectarian col¬ 
leges, from the great state universities, from the eastern 
schools with their century old traditions and from the 
newer institutions of the west. The opinions of all are 
fused together to form our national viewpoint. Not alone 
do the active members become acquainted. The girls 
also learn to know the women who give so loyally of their 
time and strength and ability that Alpha Xi Delta may 
have a future worthy of the high ideals which its found¬ 
ers gave it. Each convention marks a step forward, 
something accomplished and something undertaken. A 
review of the subjects there discussed and the decisions 
made is an epitome of the fraternity’s history. 

FIRST NATIONAL CONVENTION 
The First National Convention met with Alpha Chap¬ 
ter, May 8-9, 1903. The attending delegates were: Alpha, 
Marion Wrigley, Mabel Sammons; Beta, Axie E. Lute, 
Maude Reeves; Gamma, Mary Salmon. 

Alice Bartlett-Brunner, then Alice Bartlett, opened 
her home at 1103 East Main Street to the business ses¬ 
sions. The work undertaken was largely concerned with 
the routine of perfecting a working organization. 

The committee on Rules and Order of Business for the 
Convention, consisting of Anna Gillis-Kimble, Alpha, 


4 



First National Convention, Galesburg, Illinois, 1903 
















210 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

and Marion Wrigley, Alpha, acting with Grand President 
Block, formed a program which was not only accepted 
then but is still used. 

The national constitution which had been adopted by 
Alpha Chapter on the ninth anniversary of Founders * 
Day was the work of a committee with Anna Gillis- 
Kimble as its chairman. This constitution was now taken 

up article by article for 
discussion and approval 
or amendment by the con¬ 
vention. 

Nothing so indicates 
the resolution and vigor 
with which their great 
task was approached by 
this assembly as the fact 
that provision was made 
for the immediate publi¬ 
cation of a fraternity 
magazine to be called The 
Alpha Xi Delta. Anna 
Gillis Kimble, Alpha, was 
elected editor-in-chief with 
Mary Emily Kay, Gam¬ 
ma, as her assistant and 
Axie Lute-Mitchell, Beta, 
as business manager. Not 
content with a single publishing venture, the necessity of 
a new songbook was urged and Marion Wrigley, Alpha, 
Frances Arnold, Beta, and Blanche Wadsworth, Gamma, 
were appointed to arrange for one. 

The subject of expansion and the details of arrange¬ 
ments for the installation of new chapters were the prin¬ 
cipal themes for discussion. 

The foreshadowing of fraternity examinations is seen 
in the consideration of a plan to examine the delegates 
to conventions upon their knowledge of the constitution. 
The report of the nominating committee was accepted. 





Axie Lute Mitchell 



First National Convention 


211 


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212 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

The officers elected were: Grand President, Edna Epper- 
son-Brinkman, Alpha; Grand Vice-president, Mary Sal¬ 
mon, Gamma; Grand Secretary, Axie Lute-Mitchell, 
Beta ; Grand Treasurer, Maude Andrew-Van Camp, Al¬ 
pha; Grand Chaplain, Mary Emily Kay, Gamma; Grand 
Marshall, Louise Singer-Maiken, Beta; Grand Historian, 
Mabel Hartzell, Gamma; Editor-in-chief, Anna Gillis- 
Kimble, Alpha; Associate Editor, Mary Emily Kay, 
Gamma; Business Manager, Axie Lute-Mitchell, Beta. 

Social Side: 

“By an arrangement which proved most pleasant to 
all concerned the convention was held at the same time 
Sigma Nu was holding its Fifth Division convention at 
Galesburg. The two chapters joined in giving a recep¬ 
tion and dance to their delegates and visitors on Friday 
evening at the Lombard gymnasium, which had been dec¬ 
orated in the colors of the two fraternities. The recep¬ 
tion was set for an early hour, 5:30, and soon after that 
time the orchestra commenced an attractive program of 
waltzes and two steps. 

“At 9 o’clock cars were in wating to take the merry 
crowd down town to their respective banquets. The boys 
filled one car and the girls another, but by a seemingly 
pre-arranged plan the car the girls were in ran off the 
track and the gallant young men offered their seats. 
When the cars started again they were filled with a mixed 
crowd of girls and boys who enlivened the trip with fra¬ 
ternity songs and yells. The Alpha Xi Deltas went to 
Spake’s banquet hall where an elegant banquet was 
served. The tables, arranged in the form of a hollow 
square, were decorated in smilax and Alpha roses. Edna 
Epperson-Brinkman acted as toastmistress and the fol¬ 
lowing toasts were given: 

Alpha Xi Delta.Cora Bollinger-Block, Alpha. 

What Does This Mean?.Mary E. Salmon, Gamma. 

Sunshine and Shadows of Sorority Life. .Frances H* Arnold, Beta. 

Sigma Nu.Edith Miller, Alpha. 

Why I Am an Alpha.Mabel A. Sammons, Alpha. 

The Pledge.Ella Boston Leib. 







Second National Convention 


213 


“On Saturday afternoon a reception was given the 
Alpha Chapter and their visitors by Pi Beta Phi at the 
home of Dr. White. The decorations were in their fra- 
ternity colors. Dainty refreshments were served. 

“The Convention closed Saturday evening with a joint 
rally at the Sigma Nu house. College songs were sung 
and several songs composed for the occasion were ren¬ 
dered.’ ’ 

The Alpha Xi Delta, Vol. 1, No. 1. 


SECOND NATIONAL CONVENTION 

Gamma Chapter entertained the Second National 
Convention at Alliance, Ohio, May 13-14, 1904. As the 
women’s fraternities were at that time permitted to live 
in houses, the business sessions were held in the chapter 
home. The attending delegates were: Alpha, Florence 
Kober; Beta, Axie Lute-Mitchell; Gamma, Fern Fogle, 
Anna Jones; Delta, Anna Kemp, Virginia Stewart; Ep¬ 
silon, Josephine Hanson; Zeta, Mabel Bracher. 

The address of welcome by Mildred Tucker, president 
of Gamma Chapter, was responded to on behalf of the 
convention by Grand President Brinkman. 

The custom of initiating during convention was ob¬ 
served for the first time when Gussie Yost and Lucile 
Strong were taken into the hostess chapter. 

Probably the most important feature of the entire 
convention was consideration of the Panhellenic move¬ 
ment, then just in its inception. A discussion was led by 
Marion Wrigley, Alpha, and the minutes of the second 
Inter-Sorority Conference were read. It was decided 
that Anna Gillis-Kimble, Alpha, should represent Alpha 
Xi Delta at the third conference. 

Committees were appointed to consider designs for 
both a coat-of-arms and a pledge pin. 

A motion was carried providing for the establishment 
of a convention fund, the object in view being to equalize 
the expenses of convention between entertaining chapters 


214 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


and chapters near to and far distant from the place of 
convention. 

A petition was received and read from the local chap¬ 
ter, Kappa Rho, which was to become Eta Chapter at 
Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. Y. The arrival of the 
petition was one of the high points of interest during 
the entire convention. 

In its report, which was unanimously adopted, the 
nominating committee recommended that the editor of 
The Alpha Xi Delta be made a grand officer and that 
henceforth a marshal and chaplain be appointed to serve 
during convention and that they he not grand officers. 

The officers elected for the coming year were: Grand 
President, Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha; Grand Vice-presi¬ 
dent, Margaret Curtis, Delta; Grand Secretary, Mary 
Emily Kay, Gamma; Grand Treasurer, Mary A. Power, 
Beta; Grand Historian, Mabel G. Bracher; Editor, Mary 
E. Salmon, Gamma; Associate Editor, Mildred Tucker, 
Gamma; Business Manager, Mabel Hartzell, Gamma. 

Social Side: 

On Thursday evening Gamma Chapter gave a recep¬ 
tion at its house in honor of its visitors. There were 
about one hundred fifty present, including the faculty of 
the college, the members of the various fraternities and 
the alumnae of the local chapter. 

On Friday evening the annual convention banquet was 
held at The McKinley Hotel, Canton, Ohio. Forty-three 
girls sat down at the table. Mary Salmon, Gamma, acted 
as toastmistress and the following toasts were responded 
to: 

The Girl Behind the Quill.Virginia Stewart, Delta. 

Across the Years.Edna Epperson-Brinkman, Alpha. 

The Wistful Barb .Josephine Hanson, Epsilon. 

Alpha Xi Delta.Axie Lute-Mitchell, Beta. 

Our Reinforcements.Mabel Bracher, Zeta. 

Our Friends, the Enemy.Florence Kober, Alpha. 

Mrs. Anna Gillis-Kimble, Alpha, gave an impromptu 
toast on “The Joys and Sorrows of an Editor’s Life.” 








Third National Convention 


215 


After some time spent socially the girls returned to 
Alliance. 

The Board of Directors of the Athletic Association 
sent complimentary tickets to the visitors for the Case- 
Mt. Union game, and after the business session on Satur¬ 
day afternoon a large number of the girls went out to the 
ball field and added their enthusiasm to the crowd of 
rooters. 

On Saturday evening the convention was entertained 
from six until eight o’clock by Alpha Chapter of Delta 
Gamma. 

The events of the convention were closed by a musical 
given the Alpha Xi Deltas by the members of Sigma Nu 
at their fraternity home. Misses Katherine Pierce, Ber¬ 
tha Zeppernick and Nellie Carmen assisted in receiving. 

THIRD NATIONAL CONVENTION 

The Third Convention met with Beta Chapter at Mt. 
Pleasant, Iowa, on June 21-23, 1905. The business ses¬ 
sions were held in the Alpha Xi Delta house. 

Some years ago copies of the minutes of the First, 
Second and Third Conventions were lost from the 
archives of the fraternity. This loss was minimized when 
a complete file of The Alpha Xi Delta was collected 
through the efforts of Polly Fenton, Theta, and Mary 
Bayne, Theta. The minutes of the business sessions of 
both the First and Second Conventions had been pub¬ 
lished in Nos. 1 and 2 of Vol. 1. Most unfortunately no 
minutes of the Third Convention were published in the 
journal. The account given confined itself entirely to the 
social side. 

Some of the decisions then made are evident never¬ 
theless through things undone at the time of the Second 
Convention and well established in the fraternity regime 
by the Fourth. 

The incorporation of the national fraternity must 
have been authorized by the Third Convention for at the 
Fourth it is an accomplished fact. The policy of an an- 





Alpha Xi Delta Convention. Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, 1905 








Third National Convention 


217 


nual fraternity examination was adopted for the follow¬ 
ing year, 1906, the first list of questions was sent out by 
the national organization. 

The publication of the second edition of the songbook 
was again urged. While the project had been authorized 
by the First Convention it had not been accomplished. 
The work was now entrusted to Eta Chapter, directed by 
Martha Hutchings-McKean and Terese Tobin-Wright. 

The committee system as adopted by the First Con¬ 
vention provided for a number of standing committees, 
consisting of two members each, to serve during the 
period between conventions. A third member was now 
added to each committee and the period of service limited 
to the duration of the convention. 

The grand officers elected at the Third Convention 
were: Grand President, Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha; Grand 
Vice-president, Lorena Grange-Sweet, Epsilon; Grand 
Secretary, Mary Emily Kay, Gamma; Grand Treasurer, 
Mary Power-Holliday, Beta; Grand Historian, Lorena 
Grange-Sweet, Epsilon; Grand Editor, Bertha Cleve- 
land-Patterson, Eta; Associate Editor, Gertrude Wright- 
Gilmour, Eta; Business Manager, Dora Lockwood, Eta; 
Assistant Business Manager, Martha Hutchings-McKean, 
Eta. 

Social Side: 

Most of the delegates and visitors arrived the day 
preceding the formal opening of the convention. That 
evening an informal reception was given them at the 
chapter-house. On the following evening Mr. and Mrs. 
F. P. Van Cise, parents of one of Beta’s college members, 
entertained for the chapter’s guests from 7:30 until 9:00 
p. m. at which time they left for a banquet served at Lu- 
berger’s Cafe. 

Axie Lute-Mitchell, Beta, presided over the program 
of toasts. 

To the Alpha Girl Abroad.Bess Williamson, Alpha. 

The Alpha Rose.Lucille Strong, Gamma. 

Spreads .Lorena Grange, Epsilon. 





218 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


Angling .Bertha Cleveland, Eta. 

Our Pin.Bertha Jane Smith, Iota. 

Our Ward.. Mrs. M. B. Huston. 


The last toast was given by Mrs. Huston, a patroness 
of Beta Chapter. 

A formal reception at the home of Mrs. W. B. Seeley 
was tendered the fraternity by Beta’s patronesses on 
Thursday evening. The hostesses were: Mrs. W. B. 
Seeley, Mrs. W. I. Babb, Mrs. W. S. Withrow, Mrs. R. S. 
Galer and Mrs. M. B. Huston. All were members of the 
P. E. 0. Society whose Chapter S had become Beta of 
Alpha Xi Delta. 

A Panhellenic reception was held on the last evening 
of the convention at the home of Ellen Ball. The guests 
were the members of the faculty of Iowa Wesleyan Col¬ 
lege, the chapters of men’s and women’s fraternities 
and other invited guests. 

FOURTH NATIONAL CONVENTION 

The Fourth National Convention met October 31 and 
November 1-2, 1907, at Morgantown, W. Va., with Iota 
and Delta as hostess chapters. The attending delegates 
were: Alpha, Mabel Irwin; Beta, Mildred Brady; Gam¬ 
ma, Ethel Montgomery and Lucille Strong; Delta, Helen 
Marshall and Mary Gentry Cornett; Epsilon, Julia Sweet 
and Clara Salmer; Zeta, Clara Dornblaser and Edith 
Hawkins Smith; Eta, Miranda Myers and Martha Hutch¬ 
ings; Theta, Louise Erb and Ruth Strong; Iota, Crystal 
Courtney and Mary Cooper; Kappa, Myrtle Coker; 
Lambda, Ethel Fuller and Gertrude Johnson; Mu, Mary 
Shiely and Fannie Gordonier; Nu, Sara Anna Smith 
(proxy); Alliance Alumnae, Elsie Jones and Beulah Kir- 
lan; Boston Alumnae, Daisy Bartlett and Betsey Harmon. 

The address of welcome given by Drusilla Johnson, 
Iota, was responded to by Grand President Leib. 

The relations existing between chapters and their 
pledges were discussed from various viewpoints and a 





Fourth National Convention 


219 


motion carried making void a pledge at the end of a 
year’s absence, but renewing it upon a return to college. 
The daily observance of Alpha Xi Delta’s scholarship 
ideals was reflected in the definition of eligibility as in¬ 
cluding only girls entering college with sufficient credits 
to begin the liberal arts work unconditioned. 

A definite policy in expansion was stated for the first 
time in the recommendation that the standards of a col¬ 
lege in regard to their scholastic requirements be the 
determining factor and not locality. 

Provision was again made for the annual fraternity 
examinations, Frances Ritchey and Maude Andrews-Van 
Camp, both of Alpha, being appointed to draw up 4 Hen 
plain questions.” The benefits from the more detailed 
knowledge of the fraternity which preparation for an ex¬ 
amination required caused this feature to be permanently 
adopted. 

The success of the .journal was evidenced in the report 
of the editor. The duties of the staff and of the chapter 
correspondents were defined and enlarged. 

The incorporation of the fraternity, having been pre¬ 
viously arranged, the constitution and by-laws were 
readopted in accordance with the articles of incorpora¬ 
tion. 

The ever increasing work of the grand committee had 
made correspondence between its members a truly for¬ 
midable task. In the effort to lighten this work as far as 
possible, meetings of the grand committee in non-con 
vention years were empowered. 

Mrs. Martin’s Sorority Hand-Book, which had been 
published in 1905, was adopted as the official reference 
book of the fraternity. 

The report of the nominating committee, which was 
unanimously accepted, read: Grand President Ella Bos- 
ton-Leib, Alpha; Grand Vice-president, Bertha G. Cleve¬ 
land, Eta; Grand Secretary, Mary Emily Kay, Gamma; 
Grand Treasurer, Ellen Ball, Beta; Grand Historian, 
Clara Salmer-Cason, Epsilon; Grand Editor, Martha 


220 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


Hutchings-McKean, Eta; Assistant Editor, Gertrude 
Wright-Gilmour, Eta; Business Manager, Dora G. Lock- 
wood, Eta; Assistant Business Manager, Edith Law¬ 
rence, Eta. 

Social Side: 

Dr. Purinton, President of West Virginia University, 
extended a kindly greeting to the fraternity at the first 
business session of the convention. Sincerely approving 
the American College fraternity system, he opened his 
home that evening to a Panhellenic reception given in 
honor of Alpha Xi Delta. 

On Friday evening the convention banquet was held at 
the Hotel Madera. Bertha Jane Smith, Iota, acted as 
toastmistress, introducing the following program: 

Alpha Xi Delta Founders.Helen Marshall, Alpha. 

Alpha Builders.Mildred Brady, Beta. 

The Future.Clara Dornblaser, Zeta. 

The Tri-Colored Standard.Louise Erb, Theta. 

Alumnae .Elsie Jones, Gamma. 

Alpha Xi Delta—Where is it? What is it? WTiy is it?. 

.Mary E. Shiely, Mu. 

Initiations .Myrtle Coker, Kappa. 

The Mystery Revealed.Daisy Bartlett, Lambda. 

Our Girls.Mrs. J. W. Leonard, Iota patroness. 

New Acquisitions.Lorena Grange, Epsilon. 

Saturday afternoon, following the final adjournment 
of the convention, Mrs. J. H. Cox entertained at an in¬ 
formal tea, given in Alpha Xi Delta’s honor to the wom¬ 
en’s fraternities of the university. From five until eight 
o’clock of the same evening the girls enjoyed a dinner 
dance given for them by several of the men’s fraternities. 
Immediately following, was the last entertainment of 
the week, a reception at the beautiful home of Dean Hogg, 
given by Mrs. Hogg, Mrs. Atkeson and Mrs. Leonard, all. 
patronesses of Iota Chapter. 













Fifth National Convention 


221 


FIFTH NATIONAL CONVENTION 

The Fifth National Convention was held October 
28-30, 1909, with Eta Chapter at Syracuse, New York. 
Fifteen college and four alumnae chapters were repre¬ 
sented. The delegates in attendance were: Alpha, Berta 
Pittman; Beta, Elva Potts and Blanche Heiserman; Gam¬ 
ma, Jessie Garman and Maude Grove; Delta, Fern Hanna 
and Ruth McCammon; Epsilon, Lucy Amerer and Mar- 
gherita Sheldon; Zeta, Helen Dornblaser and Margaret 
Fornshell; Eta, Helen Truair and Helen Rosa; Theta, 
Una Reardon and Alma Runge; Iota, Mary Stewart 
Fravel and Mabel Weaver; Kappa, Saidee Nelson; 
Lambda, Marie Wood and Audrey L. Dutfey; Mu, Lucy 
White and Georgia Belle Elwell; Nu, Lillian Askren; Xi, 
Nell Wallis and Lida Jones; Omicron, Anna Wallis 
(proxy); Alliance Alumnae, Olive Bracher, Gamma; Bos¬ 
ton Alumnae, Fannie Clement, Lambda and Laila C. 
Nye, Lambda. 

Miranda Myers, president of Eta Chapter, welcomed 
the visiting Alpha Xi Deltas and Grand President Leib 
responded for them. 

The work of the convention dealt chiefly with systema¬ 
tizing the business of the fraternity. The duties of all 
convention committees were defined, a card index system 
was adopted for the historian’s record of membership 
and the fraternity was divided into districts, a grand 
officer being appointed as director of each division. 

Important changes were made in the method of pay¬ 
ing national dues in that all money, including journal 
fees, was now to be paid directly to the Grand Treasurer. 
This officer was to be bonded. August dues, continued 
for one more year, were then to be permanently aban¬ 
doned. 

The need for alumnae support of the journal led to the 
adoption of a model form letter to be used by the college 
chapters in a general appeal to their entire membership 
for subscriptions. 


222 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Charters were granted to the Syracuse and to the 
Seattle Alumnae Chapters, the required number for such 
chartering being raised from six to ten members. Pro¬ 
vision was made for associate 
alumnae chapters of six or more 
members, to be recognized by the 
fraternity but not chartered until 
their membership reached ten. 

The long dream of our fra¬ 
ternity now first took its definite 
form in the discussion as to 
whether or not it would be pos¬ 
sible to begin the funding of a 
scholarship. The reluctant de¬ 
cision was reached that finances 
did not justify it. 

The design submitted by 
Anna Wallis, Xi, for a national 
banner was accepted. Miss 
Wallis and Xi Chapter as a com¬ 
mittee were appointed to make the official banner for the 
fraternity. 

A store of material was provided against the time 
when it would be desirable to publish the history of Alpha 
Xi Delta in the ruling requiring each chapter to observe 
Founders’ Day by filing a history of the year just past 
with the Grand Historian. The office of Grand Historian 
and the chairmanship of the committee on fraternity ex¬ 
aminations had been merged with the vice-presidency. 

Other legislation adopted provided for the writing of 
a pledge ceremony, the purchase of a songbook by each 
initiate and conferred upon all ex-grand presidents the 
honor of a seat in convention. 

The grand officers elected by the Fifth Convention 
were: Grand President, Mary Emily Kay, Gamma; 
Grand Vice-president, Gussanda Countway, Lambda; 
Grand Secretary, Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta; Grand 
Treasurer, Ellen Ball; Grand Editor, Ruth Sibley-Has- 



Gussanda Countway, 


Sixth National Convention 


223 


kell, Lambda; Associate Editor, Mary Meek Atkeson, 
Iota; Business Manager, Katherine Keith-Stamp, Gam¬ 
ma. 

Social Side: 

On Thursday afternoon Alpha Chapter of Gamma 
Phi Beta gave a reception in honor of the convention 
delegates and visitors. The evening of the same day 
Eta Chapter entertained for its guests with a dance at 
which its patronesses chaperoned. 

On Friday afternoon the members of the university 
faculty and the senior members of the women’s frater¬ 
nities were the guests at a Panhellenic reception given 
by Eta Chapter at the home of Mrs. F. A. Saunders. No 
formal arrangements were made for Friday evening 
which was spent by the girls in becoming better 
acquainted with each other. 

The convention banquet was held Saturday evening 
with Terese Tobin-Wright, Eta, acting as toastmistress. 
She presided over the following program: 


Onward.Lucy White, Mu. 

Unity.Martha Hutchings-McKean, Eta. 

Romance.Audrey Duffey-Blagbrough, Lambda. 

Annals.Berta Pittman-McRae, Alpha. 

Loyalty.Jessie Garman, Gamma. 

Purpose.Lillian Essary-Askren, Nu. 

Hospitality.Lida Jones-Atkins, Xi. 

Afterglow.Fannie Clement, Lambda. 


SIXTH NATIONAL CONVENTION 
The Sixth National Convention met October 26-28, 
1911, with Theta Chapter at Madison, Wisconsin. The 
attending delegates were: Alpha, Beatrice Trench, Helen 
Ream; Beta, Helen Walker; Gamma, Carrie Spring, 
Hazel Purcell; Epsilon, Marion Williams; Zeta, Martha 
Lowry; Eta, Ethel Baldwin, Hazel Ellis; Theta, Agnes 
Dairs, Vernie L. McCann; Iota, Mary Meek Atkeson; 
Kappa, Madeline Dryer, Byne Goodman; Lambda, Edith 
Bradford; Mu, Florence Donahue, Blanche Grand-Maitre; 










224 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Nu, Ruth Marie Sauter, Mary McHenry; Xi, Mary 
Kinkead Venable; Omicron, Ruth Stark; Pi, Virginia 
Crisenberry, Key Wenrick; Alliance Alumnae, Katherine 
Keith; Boston Alumnae, Alice Cummings; Pittsburgh 
Alumnae, Anna Miller-Knote. 

Henrietta Rissman gave an address of welcome from 
Theta Chapter and Grand President Kay responded to it. 

The approval of chapter-house ownership was ex¬ 
pressed as an active policy of the fraternity in the pro¬ 
vision that all funds in the treasury in excess of twelve 
hundred dollars be set aside for a house fund. The 
money thus accumulated was to be loaned without inter¬ 
est, in such amounts as the Grand Council might deem 
advisable, to chapters wishing to build or buy homes. 

The awarding of an official honor ring in recognition 
of high individual scholastic standing was approved. 
The requirements for this honor being fixed as election 
to membership in Phi Beta Kappa or Sigma Xi or an 
average for the four years of ninety per cent. 

Provision was made for the organization of alumnae 
not reached by membership in alumnae chapters. This 
work was to be in charge of an alumnae organizer, ap¬ 
pointed by the Grand President. A fee of twenty-five 
cents from each individual member provided the financial 
support required. The increasing dependence of the 
fraternity upon its alumnae members was reflected in the 
creation of the office of alumnae adviser to each college 
chapter and the addition of an alumnae editor to the jour¬ 
nal staff. Life subscriptions to The Alpha Xi Delta were 
authorized and an official cover design adopted for the 
journal. It was further provided that the directory 
should be published independently of the journal instead 
of being one of its numbers as heretofore. 

The growth of the fraternity had rendered necessary 
its redistricting. It was further provided that, at each 
convention the Grand President appoint an extension 
committee to serve for the succeeding two years. 

The growing desire in the fraternity for a standard- 





























226 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

ized pin resulted in legislation accepting only one die 
as official. Jewels were limited to pearls or diamonds set 
within the shaft. It was provided that the pin of a sister 
who died should be buried 
with her unless she had ar¬ 
ranged to give it to another 
member of Alpha Xi Delta. 

The report of Anna Wallis, 
Xi, concerning the emblematic 
meaning of the official banner 
was adopted. Miss Wallis 
with Xi Chapter as a commit¬ 
tee was appointed to make the 
banner. Its ownership was 
limited to members of the fra¬ 
ternity. 

The subject matter of the 
annual fraternity examination 
was to be given, henceforth by 
classes. Pledged girls were 
now to be examined upon their knowledge of the frater¬ 
nity’s songs previous to their initiation. 

The limit upon the number of members in a chapter 
was removed. The holding of open house to all their 
friends by each chapter at least once a semester was 
accepted as the symbol of Alpha Xi Delta’s universal 
friendliness. 

The Grand Officers elected by the Sixth Convention 
were: Grand President, Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta; 
Grand Vice-president, Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta; Grand 
Secretary, Buth Sibley-Haskell, Lambda; Grand Treas¬ 
urer, Ellen Ball, Beta; Grand Editor, Polly Fenton, 
Theta; Associate Editor, Mary Meek Atkeson, Iota; 
Alumnae Editor, Martha Fargo, Kappa; Business Man¬ 
ager, Mary Payne, Theta; Extension Secretary, Gus- 
sanda Countway, Lambda. 





Seventh National Convention 


227 


Social Side: 

On Thursday, the first evening of convention, Theta 
Chapter entertained its guests with a “vodvil” given at 
the Al-Fussy-Del-Tah Theater. Eight clever and amus¬ 
ing acts were presented after which Alpha Xi Delta songs 
and the different alma mater songs were sung. 

Friday evening a formal dance was held in the Wom¬ 
an’s Building, the ballroom being decorated with south¬ 
ern smilax and tinsel. Bowls of roses filled the side 
rooms with their pleasant fragrance. 

Saturday afternoon an informal reception was held at 
the chapter-house. Following it the convention banquet 
was held in Lathrop Hall. Agnes Davis acted as toast- 
mistress, introducing the evening’s program. 

The Call of the Alphas.Mary Emily Kay, Gamma. 

When an Alpha Meets an Alpha.Margaret Hurt, Delta. 

Reunion Song.Julia Gibbs-Adams, Lambda. 

Pm a Happy Carefree Greek.Byne Goodman, Kappa. 

The Thought Behind the Rose.Helen Walker, Beta. 

The Band of True Alphas.Key Wenrick, Pi. 

The College Cycle.Martha Lowry, Zeta. 

A Pledge to Alpha Xi Delta.Blanche Grand-Maitre, Mu. 

Farewell Song.Ruth Stark, Omicron. 

SEVENTH NATIONAL CONVENTION 

The Seventh National Convention met with Kappa 
Chapter October 30-31 and November 1, 1913, at Cham¬ 
paign, Illinois. The attending delegates were: Alpha, 
Helen Ream, Hazel Shadley; Beta, Reba Tennant, Jean 
Wilson; Gamma, Ethel Hively, Velora Thompson; Delta, 
Helen Smith; Epsilon, Helen Burrell Miller; Zeta, Hazel 
Hamilton, Helen Byers; Eta, Clara Nelson, Jessie Myers; 
Theta, Leota Fay, Florence Coerper; Iota, Pearl Scott, 
Edith Smith; Kappa, Minna Wykoff, Abigail Fisher; 
Lambda, Emma Hulen; Mu, Mildred Lasley, Irene Raine; 
Nu, Blanche George; Xi, Nora Hamilton, Lila Estes; 
Omicron, Mabel McClymont; Pi, Irene Aber, Orrell 
Rood; Rho, Isabel Coons, Elsie Peterson; Sigma, Ann 
Van der Zee, May Sherman; Boston Alumnae, Bertha 











".y 



eo 


Alpha Xi Delta Convention, Champaign, III., 191 


















Seventh National Convention 


229 


Shepard; New York Alumnae, Hazel Slayton; Syracuse 
Alumnae, Helen Truair; Seattle Alumnae, Florence Busli- 
Hill ; Chicago Alumnae, Beatrice French. 

Following the singing of the reunion song, Abigail 
Fisher extended a welcome to the convention in behalf of 
Kappa Chapter. Grand President Baldwin replied in 
behalf of the National Chapter. 

Earnest consideration was given the five recommen¬ 
dations from National Panhellenic Congress which were 
to be acted upon, In the effort to eliminate high school 
fraternities National Panhellenic Congress recommended 
that none of its member fraternities bid girls who be¬ 
longed to them. It also asked that the fraternities grant 
limited legislative power to their delegates in order that 
the Congress might take definite action upon the business 
which it considered instead of having to refer even petty 
routine detail back to the individual fraternities for 
action. These two important rulings were adopted as 
was also the form recommended for a scholarship card. 
The model house rules proposed were not officially 
adopted but were recommended to the chapters. The 
fellowship plan for house chaperons was definitely re¬ 
jected. 

Provision was made for the publication of a new and 
larger songbook, of a directory of the fraternity’s mem¬ 
bers and of a national history.* In order to facilitate the 
historical work each chapter was asked to make out a 
list of the honors which had come to it and the girls who 
had held them. These lists were to be sent to the Grand 
Secretary. 

An official statement was adopted declaring Alpha Xi 
Delta to favor a short rushing season, semester initiation 
and scholarship requirements. 

Provision had been made for an inspector of chap¬ 
ters in the constitution when it was first adopted, 1902. 
This office had not yet been employed but a ruling was 
now adopted making it active and providing that one 


230 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

officer visit all the college chapters during the interval 
between conventions. 

After consideration of the relationship existing be-‘ 
tween the fraternity and 
other undergraduate or¬ 
ganizations a ruling was 
established requiring that 
before the end of her fresh¬ 
man year, or in those cases 
where sophomore initia¬ 
tion was in force at the 
beginning of the sopho¬ 
more year, every member 
of Alpha Xi Delta affiliate 
with at least one college or¬ 
ganization and take an ac¬ 
tive part in its work. 

The college chapters 
were also required to per¬ 
form some definite social 
service work or philan¬ 
thropy each year. The 

Rosalie retz-bell, Kappa alumnae chapters were re¬ 
quired to take up some 
definite work but its nature was left to their discretion. 

Legislation affecting the journal provided that, be¬ 
ginning with Vol. XI, 1914, each college chapter bind and 
place on its shelves each succeeding volume. The term 
of the journal correspondent was lengthened to two years 
and those eligible to election to it restricted to juniors. 
The initiation fee was increased two dollars, which paid 
for a subscription to the journal for the first two years 
after the initiate was out of college. 

The sum of three hundred dollars was voted to estab¬ 
lish a graduate scholarship. Financial support was voted 
the Chicago Collegiate Bureau of Occupations. This 
bureau sought to place trained and educated women in 
professions other than teaching. 




Seventh National Convention 


231 


The class plan was adopted for the fraternity ex¬ 
aminations. The subject matter was divided as follows: 

Freshman—General facts about Alpha Xi Delta. 

Sophomore—General facts about Alpha Xi Delta 
and problems of the Greek world. 

Junior—National Panhellenic Congress and fra¬ 
ternities in general. 

Senior—Alpha Xi Delta problems and ideals. 

Other legislation changed the name of the corporation 
from the Alpha Xi Delta Sorority to the Alpha Xi Delta 
Fraternity; established a secret publication, The Quill; 
provided for the writing of an affiliation ceremony and 
authorized a change in the design of the recognition pin. 

The grand officers elected were: Grand President, 
Lena Baldwin, Eta; Grand Vice-president, Buth Sibley- 
Haskell, Lambda; Grand Secretary, Bosalie Betz-Bell, 
Kappa; Grand Treasurer, Ellen Ball, Beta; Inspector, 
Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta; Grand Editor, Polly Fenton, 
Theta; Associate Editor, Edith Bradford, Lambda; 
Alumnae Editor, Martha Fargo, Kappa; Business Man¬ 
ager, Mary Eayne, Theta; Extension Secretary, Alice 
Cummings-Heustis, Lambda. 

Social Side: 

For Thursday evening, a stunt show provided conven¬ 
tion’s first entertainment. Attractive programs an¬ 
nounced the different numbers, all of which were both 
original and interesting. 

The college Panhellenic, composed of the representa¬ 
tives of eleven women’s fraternities, was hostess at a 
reception Friday afternoon in honor of Kappa Chapter 
and the Alpha Xi Delta convention members. 

Kappa Chapter was hostess at a formal dance on Fri¬ 
day evening and at a reception on Saturday afternoon. 
The convention banquet was held in the chapter-house on 
Saturday evening. Ninety-four Alpha Xi Deltas were 
present. Winifred Campbell-Craig, Kappa, acted as 


232 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


toastmistress. She likened the sisterhood of Alpha Xi 
Delta to a splendid chain, wrought of gold and perfect 
in craftmanship, to which the following links were added: 

Our Guests . Florence Hunt-Fogg, Kappa. 

True Service to Alpha Xi Delta.Helen Ream-Wadleigh, Alpha. 

Individual Responsibility. Hazel Hamilton-Beach, Zeta. 

Good Fellowship Among Greeks.Jessie Myers-Newhart, Eta. 

When Greek Meets Barbarian.Emma Hulen, Lambda. 

The First Year Out.Beatrice Trench-Green, Alpha. 

The Value of Alumna? to the Chapter. .Blanche George Harris, Nu. 

Alpha Xi Delta Forever.Lila Estes-Morgan, Xi. 

This chain, complete in its parts and beautiful in its 
workmanship, was given into the keeping of the Rev. 
Miss Almira Cheney. In acknowledgment of its pres¬ 
entation she responded with a sketch of the founding of 
Alpha Xi Delta and of its founders, their ideals and 
aspirations. 


EIGHTH NATIONAL CONVENTION 

The Eighth National Convention met with Omicron 
Chapter July 20-23, 1915, at Berkeley, California. The 
attending delegates were: Alpha, Eulalia Moroney, Bess 
Williamson; Beta, Florence Buck; Gamma, Henna Ross; 
Delta, none; Epsilon, Carol A. Gunderson; Zeta, Mildred 
Kuhns; Eta, Ruth Price; Theta, Mae Heineman; Iota, 
Daisy Arnett; Kappa, Helen Fisher; Lambda, Bernice 
Wood; Mu, Marguerite Elken, Jessie Kline; Nu, Mad¬ 
eline Woodworth, Helen Swope; Xi, Hattie Noland; Omi¬ 
cron, Ruth Calden, Stella Liss; Pi, Mary Jane Collins; 
Rho, Caryl Spaulding; Sigma, none; Tau, Lou Crandall; 
Upsilon, none; Alliance Alumnae, Key Wenrick; Mt. 
Pleasant Alumnae, Mabel Duncan; Chicago Alumnae, 
Jeannette Retz; Boston Alumnae, Ruth Sibley-Haskell; 
Syracuse Alumnae, Ethel Baldwin; San Francisco Alum¬ 
nae, M. Olive Johnson; Seattle Alumnae, Lela Parker; 
Cleveland Alumnae, Nina Browning; Minneapolis-St. Paul 
Alumnae, Stella Kline; Madison Alumnae, Calla Andrus; 










Alpha Xi Delta Masquerade, 1915 
















234 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Los Angeles Alumnae, Martha Fargo; New York Alumnae, 
Elizabeth Clark. 

Scholastic standing, individually and as a national or¬ 
ganization was thoughtfully discussed. The requirement 
for eligibility to the honor ring was raised from ninety 
per cent to ninety-three per cent as an average for the 
four years when the ring was not won through election 
to Phi Beta Kappa or Sigma Xi. The national goal in 
scholarship was recognized as the aim of having each 
chapter rank among the highest third of the fraternities 
in the college in which it is located. 

A ruling was adopted automatically cancelling pledges 
held over more than two semesters because of failure to 
pass the number of hours required for initiation, the 
number of required hours being fixed at twelve. The 
Grand Council was empowered to grant special exemp¬ 
tions in the cases of music students. 

In order that the prestige of Alpha Xi Delta should be 
suitably maintained on every campus each college mem¬ 
ber was required to be represented in two activities. So 
closely was the fraternity in sympathy with the aims and 
ideals of the Y. W. C. A. that it was named as one of these 
activities. 

The burlesque of initiation which is sometimes known 
as second degree work or prep initiation and makes a 
mockery both of the dignity of the fraternity and of its 
members was forever abolished in any form whatsoever. 

The continuing development of the alumnae organiza¬ 
tion was reflected in the provision that each alumna hear 
from the fraternity by special bulletin at least twice a 
year. This work was to be done by volunteers from col¬ 
lege and alumnae members. The women so volunteering 
were to be given special training in fraternity and Pan- 
hellenic work through instruction bulletins developed es¬ 
pecially for these workers. 

The ban upon pins jewelled alternately with pearls 
and diamonds was removed. All emblems of the frater- 
nitv in addition to the badge were standardized and their 



Snap Shots on Tug Ride, 1915 









236 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

purchase required to be made through a custodian of 
emblems. 

A memorial service, honoring our fraternity dead, 
was adopted and its use stipulated upon the last chapter 
meeting of each year. A service for Founders ’ Day was 
also adopted and the observance of Founders ’ Day by the 
wearing of the colors beneath the badge required. 

The systemization of the national archives was antici¬ 
pated in the ruling providing that the Grand Vice-presi¬ 
dent collect and file all national documents. 

The office of chairman of social service was created in 
response to the desire that this phase of the fraternity’s 
work be organized and made more typically Alpha Xi 
Delta. 

A charter was granted the Galesburg Alumnas 
Chapter. 

The general discussions during the sessions of the con¬ 
vention were among its most worthwhile features. 
Formal discussions considered; House Management; 
Patronesses; Journal Letters; Founders’ Day Service, 
Memorial Service. 

The grand officers elected were: Grand President, 
Lena Baldwin, Eta; Grand Vice-president, Ruth Sibley- 
Haskell, Lambda; Grand Secretary, Bess Williamson; 
Grand Treasurer, Ellen Ball, Beta; Grand Inspector, 
Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta; Grand Editor, Polly Fenton, 
Theta; Associate Editor, Edith Bradford, Lambda; 
Alumnae Editor, Martha Fargo, Kappa; Business Man¬ 
ager, Mary Rayne, Theta; Extension Secretary, Bertha 
Shepard, Lambda. 

Social Side: 

The festivities opened with a masquerade on Tuesday 
evening whose chief features were chapter stunts. The 
Omicron hostesses were scarcely recognizable in the 
minstrel show with which the program opened. Nu fol¬ 
lowed with a movie presenting Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The 


Ninth National Convention 


237 


last stunt was a mock wedding and later in the evening 
the girls danced. 

A tug ride around San Francisco Bay filled Wednes¬ 
day afternoon and early evening. It was made a thrilling 
event for the inlanders by a dense sea fog which obscured 
the sight of land. 

Thursday afternoon Omicron Chapter held a recep¬ 
tion at the chapter-house. The convention banquet was 
held Friday evening. Genevieve Toukey-Kwapil, Omi¬ 
cron, acted as toastmistress. Hilda Howard, Omicron, 
Hattie Noland-Broadus, Xi, and Anna Miller-Knote, 
Zeta, responded to toasts. With the singing of Alpha Xi 
Delta songs the social side of the convention came to an 
end. 


NINTH NATIONAL CONVENTION 

The Ninth National Convention met with Lambda 
Chapter July 1-3, 1918, in Boston, Mass. The business 
sessions were held in the New England Women’s Club. 

Most of the time of convention was spent in discussion 
and planning for some national war work. The plan 
adopted provided for the support of a worker in War 
Camp Community Service. The early signing of the 
Armistice rendered this plan no longer feasible and it 
was abandoned. 

An average of ten per cent above passing was added 
to the initiation requirements which had hitherto been 
only that of passing twelve semester hours. 

The office of executive secretary was created by com¬ 
bining the duties of Grand Secretary and Grand Editor. 
In view of the great amount of work this required of a 
single officer, the position was made a salaried one. 

A budget system was accepted for use by the college 
chapters in planning their finances. Fixed headings to 
be used by all chapters were adopted. The year’s budget 
was required to be drawn up, approved by the chapter 
and submitted to the National Council by November 15, 
each year. 


238 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


Legislation also provided that the national organiza¬ 
tion cease to give the honor rings but continue to deter¬ 
mine which girls were eligible to receive them. The word 
“national” was substituted for “grand” before the 
names of officers and council. It was agreed that all 



Audrey Duffey-Blagbrough, Lambda 


chapter officers be elected at the end of the first semester 
instead of in the spring. This plan had the advantage of 
bringing experienced officers back to the chapter at the 
beginning of the college year and of letting others secure 
that experience while their predecessors in office were 
still in the chapter and able to advise with them. A com- 










Rockport Views, 1918 








































240 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

mittee was appointed to receive designs for a new recog¬ 
nition pin. 

The national officers elected were: National President, 
Polly Fenton, Theta; National Vice-president, Bess Wil¬ 
liamson, Alpha; National Executive Secretary, Anna 
Miller-Knote, Zeta; National Treasurer, Ellen Ball, 
Beta; National Inspector, Audrey Duffey-Blagbrough, 
Lambda; Associate Editor, Hazel Macy-MacNamee, 
Lambda; Alumnae Editor, Grace Spencer-Phillips, Kap¬ 
pa; Business Manager, Hazel Mercer, Delta; Extension 
Secretary, Lucile Thornton-Newman, Eta. 

Social Side: 

As recreation after the hard work of Monday, Lambda 
Chapter planned a twenty mile drive along the cost near 
Marblehead Point. On the return trip a stop was made 
at the home of Miriam Carleton, Lambda, for coffee and 
wafers. 

Tuesday afternoon convention adjourned an hour 
early and its members left immediately for Tuft’s Col¬ 
lege. The college and alumnae members of Lambda Chap¬ 
ter gave them a tea at the home of Mrs. Rockwell, one of 
the chapter’s patronesses. That evening Lambda Chap¬ 
ter, aided by Upsilon Chapter, gave a stunt show and 
dance. 

A fitting end to the convention was furnished by the 
banquet which took place on Wednesday evening in the 
private dining-room of the Hotel Westminster. The 
farewell speech of Lena Grandin Baldwin who was retir¬ 
ing from her long leadership of the fraternity was of 
much interest. 

The day following convention was July Fourth. 
Lambda Chapter had arranged an all day auto trip for 
the girls who stayed over the holiday. They visited the 
historic spots of Lexington and Concord and saw history 
in the making at Camp Devens where 40,000 New Eng¬ 
land boys were then training for over seas duty in the 
World War. 


Tenth National Convention 


241 


TENTH NATIONAL CONVENTION 

The Tenth National Convention was held with Mn 
Chapter at Radisson Inn, Christmas Lake, Minnesota, 
June 26-30, 1920. The attending delegates were: Alpha, 
Jeanette Ream; Beta, Lois Hobson; Gamma, Alice Hart¬ 
man, Ruth Cameron; Delta, Miriam Darbyshire; Epsilon, 
Ann Gunderson, Lillian Odland; Zeta, Mary Van Matre, 
Romaine Byers; Eta, Esther Benning, Esther Pickwick; 
Theta, Helen Bohan; Iota, none; Kappa, Eugenia Moss; 
Lambda, Alice Danver; Mu, Helen Stanley, Jean Keller; 
Nu, Thelma Cole, Velma Shaffer; Xi, Sue Boardman, 
Virginia Shanklin; Omicron, Penelope Boden; Pi, Zoe 
Brundage, Marjorie Hagel; Rho, Helen Wagner, Mary 
Sheldon; Sigma, Marion Dyer, Blanche Miller; Tau, Je¬ 
mima Dore, Mildred Swasey; Upsilon, Alice Clifford; 
Phi, Mary Bullis, Vera Tibbits; Chi, Helen Marsh, Paul¬ 
ine Newman; Psi, Pauline Hershey; Omega, Marion 
Collard, Louise Bowden; Alpha Alpha, Ruth Wallace, 
Jean Foight; Alpha Beta, Margaret Campbell; Alpha 
Gamma, Alberta Hoyman, Gertrude Dyrland; Alpha 
Delta, Helen Harbke; Alpha Epsilon, Helen Sprick; Mt. 
Pleasant Alumnae, Gertrude Scott; Boston Alumnae, Ger¬ 
trude Starks; Syracuse Alumnae, Ethel Baldwin-Bruce; 
Seattle Alumnae, Doris Bele; Pittsburgh Alumnae, Eth- 
elyn Arnold; Chicago Alumnae, Elizabeth McGill, Ruth 
Whitaker; New York Alumnae, Lucile Thornton-Newman; 
Minneapolis-St. Paul Alumnae, Elsie Hankey, Florence 
Donahue; Madison Alumnae, Lucy Rayne; Galesburg 
Alumnae, Gertrude Hopps; Kansas City Alumnae, Helen 
Trant, Gertrude Hurley; Des Moines Alumnae, Madeline 
Gladish; Lexington Alumnae, Zula Ferguson; Lincoln 
Alumnae, Arietta Jane Shaw, Lulu Runge. 

The address of welcome was given by Clara Hankey, 
president of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Alumnae Chapter. 
The response was given in behalf of the convention by 
Grand President Fenton. 

The largest achievement of the Tenth Convention was 
the establishment of the national scholarship fund. It 



Council Members, 1920-22 

Myrtle Jones-Stevens, Mu; Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta; 
Lulu Runge, Theta: Ethel Baldwin-Bruce, Eta. 





Tenth National Convention 


243 


was first determined that the national work of Alpha Xi 
Delta should be for people outside its membership. It 
was then voted that a fund be raised from the income of 
which five hundred dollars would be given yearly as a 
graduate scholarship. The awarding of the scholarship 
was to be entrusted to the American Association of Uni¬ 
versity Women. The remainder of the fund income was 
to be retained each year and form the nucleus of a second 
fund from which loans would be made to Alpha Xi Delta 
members requiring temporary financial aid during their 
college years. 

The desire had grown among the alumnae chapters for 
a social work distinctively their own. It was now chosen 
in the furnishing of equipment for their local hospitals. 
Beyond this general identity of interest the details of 
their service were left to each alumnae group to arrange 
for themselves. 

The scholastic requirements for initiation into Alpha 
Xi Delta were changed to require fifteen semester hours 
credit with an average of ten per cent above a passing 
grade. 

The fraternity considered pledge education and train¬ 
ing in a general round table discussion. It was the 
opinion of the convention that pledge meetings were 
necessary and very helpful. 

Provision was made for the redistricting of the fra¬ 
ternity into six provinces. A province president was to 
be elected for each of these whose duty it would be to 
visit the college chapters in alternate years. 

A ruling was adopted prohibiting the chaining of any 
pin to the badge save a guard. The question of a na¬ 
tional history was again considered and the chapters 
urged to co-operate with council in the selection of an 
editor. 

A charter was granted the Akron Alumnae Chapter. 

National officers elected were: National President, 
Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta; National Vice-president, M. 
Olive Johnson, Omicron; National Executive Secretary, 


244 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Ethel Baldwin-Bruce, Eta; National Treasurer, Lulu 
Runge, Theta; National Inspector, Myrtle Jones Stevens, 
Mu; Associate Editor, Ethel Hoskins-Armstrong, Mu; 
Alumnae Editor, Irene Raine-Mix, Mu; Business Man¬ 
ager, Hazel Mercer, Delta. The province presidents 
were: I, Lucile Thornton-Newman, Eta; II, Helen Willis- 
Lynn, Pi; III, Lida Jones-Atkins, Xi; IV, Myrtle Coker- 
Combe, Kappa; V, Madeline Woodworth Gladish, Nu; 
VI, Kathleen Murchison, Nu. 

Social Side: 

Without, dark clouds lowering, and the blue and white 
brilliance of a June day turning to the gray and black 
sullenness of a summer storm; without, the placid ripples 
of the lake changing to white-capped waves, and the 
“summer lightning playing and flashing like a bared 
sword” above the distant tree-tops; within long tables 
glistening with glass and silver and snowy napery, fra¬ 
grant roses in their crystal holders, and about the board 
—fair ladies, their songs, their toasts, and their laughter, 
mingling with plans to “meet again,” for Alpha Xi Delta 
was holding the closing festivity of its Tenth National 
Convention. 

In the midst of convention routine, the social whirl 
provided for the delegates and visitors at this Radisson 
Inn gathering on Christmas Lake, Minneapolis, Minne¬ 
sota, was a most pleasant feature. 

Opening with the reception to the delegates and visi¬ 
tors, on the evening of Saturday, June 26, the social 
activities of the convention period included motor trips, 
song fests, an amateur vaudeville performance, a movie 
ball, and even an aquatic meet, while the closing feature 
of the affair was the formal banquet. 

On vaudeville night, histrionic talent claimed its share 
of the convention laurels and the girls of Mu found kindly 
rivals in the Wisconsin and South Dakota representa¬ 
tives—and modesty forbids that we mention Iowa’s 
showing. There were clever imitations of famous stage 










246 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

folk; there were pantomimes and sketches, and one act 
dramas that “brought tears and laughter’’ from the as¬ 
sembled company. 

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, Geraldine 
Farrar, Marguerite Clark, and a galaxy of movie stars 
shone at the movie ball and the glory of a festival at 
Hollywood were depicted. Honors of the evening went 
to Geraldine Farrar, otherwise one Julia Maude Foster 
of St. Paul. 

A formal toast program, on the closing night of the 
convention, was charmingly presided over by Grace 
Donahue, a Mu alumna, and delightful toasts were given 
by girls ‘ 4 from the north, south, east and west.” 

Mary Kinnavey, Sigma. 

The Alpha Xi Delta, November, 1920. 


ELEVENTH NATIONAL CONVENTION 
The Eleventh National Convention was held with Xi 
Chapter at Lexington, Kentucky, June 27 to July 1, 1922. 
The attending delegates were: Alpha, Pauline Hampton; 
Beta, Wilma Moore; Gamma, Verna Curtis, Lois Ever¬ 
ett; Delta, Grace Lee, Julia Warren; Epsilon, Mabel 
Gunderson, Mabel Brookman; Zeta, Doris Moffett, Lucile 
Netts; Eta, Gwendolyn Smith, Miriam Ruby; Theta, 
Helen McLandress, Alethea Smith; Iota, Florence Lazen- 
bv, Grace Meek; Kappa, Frances Wine, Elsie Wanzer; 
Lambda, Helen Carr, Mae Pfunder; Mu, Claire Horner; 
Nu, Ruth Dix, Dorothea Reynolds; Xi, Mary Archer Bell, 
Elizabeth Ellis; Omicron, Alicia George, Claire Adair; 
Pi, Fern Falloon, Sara Fitton; Rlio, Catherine Beacom, 
Verna Bowden; Sigma, Opal Stevenson; Tau, Ingeborg 
Laaby; Upsilon, Marian Way; Phi, Lillian Maynes, Mar¬ 
garet Drake; Chi, Nadine Morrison; Psi, Flora Oln- 
hausen, Mildred Osborn; Omega, Louise Moseley, Helen 
Shirley; Alpha Alpha, Helen Sponcler, Mildred Tesh; 
Alpha Beta, Margaret Ducheane, Madeline Hatch; Alpha 


Eleventh National Convention 


247 


Gamma, Adelaide Wood, Ruth Evans; Alpha Delta, 
Erma LaVerne Holman, Leota Sink; Alpha Epsilon, 
Dama Godfrey; Alpha Zeta, Dixie Young; Alpha Eta, 
Arlina Knoblock, Burrel Wiselogel; Alpha Theta, Jessie 
Olsen, Helen Rogan; Alpha Iota, Mildred Walters; Al¬ 
pha Kappa, Alice DeWitt; Alpha Lambda, Ruby Baugh, 
Lulu Rasor; Akron Alumnae, Rhoda M. O’Harra; Boston 
Alumnae, Muriel Nickerson Trout; Seattle Alumnae, Alice 
Swope; Pittsburgh Alumnae, Ruth Doutliitt, Ruth Wal¬ 
lace; Chicago Alumnae, Mary Kinnavery, Pauline Scott; 
Minneapolis-St. Paul Alumnae, Florence Quinn Dobbs; 
Lexington Alumnae, Elizabeth Wallis, Sue Boardman 
Hopkins; Lincoln Alumnae, Lulu Runge; San Francisco 
Alumnae, M. Olive Johnson; Springfield Alumnae, Mildred 
Thompson, Ruth Tuttle; Madison Alumnae, Calla Andrus; 
Columbus Alumnae, Wilhelmina Slaymaker; Detroit 
Aluimne, Theda Holen. 

The need that The Alpha Xi Delta be made self-sup¬ 
porting was one of the more important questions to be 
considered by the convention. A plan was adopted which 
will eventually take the journal to every Alpha Xi Delta 
and also relieve the national treasury from any financial 
contributions to it. Beginning with September, 1922, 
each initiate is required to take out a life subscription to 
the journal which is.payable within two years. Life sub¬ 
scriptions were also made obligatory for the other mem¬ 
bers of the college chapters who had been initiated before 
September, 1922. This included the members of the 
classes of 1923, 1924, and 1925. A campaign to secure 
life subscriptions from the alumnae members was insti¬ 
tuted through the co-operation of the alumnae chapters. 

The funding of a graduate scholarship which will be 
awarded by the American Association of University 
Women was again endorsed as the national work of 
Alpha Xi Delta. It was decided that the entire amount of 
money necessary for this purpose should be apportioned 
among the college chapters. The apportionment was to 
be based upon the rosters of the chapters, including both 


248 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

college and alumnae members. Payments already made 
were credited to the college chapters of the members 
from whom they had been received. 

The National Council was empowered to investigate 
the endowment fund systems of other fraternities and 
submit its findings to the fraternity at the next conven¬ 
tion. 

A second province office, to be known as the province 
vice-presidency, was created. The duties attendant upon 
it were assisting the province president in grading the 
fraternity examination papers of the chapters within 
that province and acting as deputy for the national vice- 
president. The duties of alumnae organizer were added 
to those of the national vice-president and the province 
vice-presidents formed her committee for that work. 

Provision was made for a standing constitutional 
committee of three members; its chairman to be elected 
at each convention and its other two members to be ap¬ 
pointed then. The duties of the committee were to be 
the consideration of all recommended constitutional 
changes before they were brought to the attention of the 
convention body. In order to save all possible time at 
future conventions, it was arranged that, instead of being 
read aloud, copies of chapter reports would be given to 
the delegates. In the same way the minutes of each day’s 
sessions were to be placed in the hands of the delegates 
at the opening of the following session. 

Convention authorized the publication of a new direct¬ 
ory, of the constitution as revised and of a handbook con¬ 
taining information about Alpha Xi Delta and designed 
for use by the members and pledges of the college 
chapters. 

In order that each fall experienced officers might re¬ 
turn to the college chapters, elections for the following 
year were to be held before March 1. A second great 
advantage was thus secured in that each officer gained 
her experience while her predecessor was present to offer 
advice or suggestion were it needed. 


Eleventh National Convention 


249 


The journal correspondent was made an exception to 
this ruling on chapter elections. Only juniors are eligible 
to this office and its term is for two years. As an in¬ 
centive to superior chapter letters, it was provided that 
the journal correspondent read the journal letter aloud 
at the last chapter meeting preceding the date when the 
letter must be in the editor’s hands. The letter then must 
be approved by the chapter president before being sent 
to the editor. 

Scholastic standing of the college chapters was dis¬ 
cussed. The convention readopted the ruling requiring 
that each college chapter must rank among the highest 
third of the women’s fraternities represented in the col¬ 
lege where it is located. Girls not passing in all of their 
work were rendered ineligible for chapter offices. A 
pledge, expired at the end of one year because of failure 
to attain the scholarship requirements for initiation may 
no longer be renewed save by the consent of national 
council. 

Classification of alumnae members listed them as 
active and inactive. To be active an alumnae must 

1. be a life subscriber to the journal. 

2. have met all obligations to her college chapter. 

3. be a member in good standing in her alumnae 

chapter if there is one in her city. 

The convention selected three songs which the votes 
of its members revealed to be the most generally favored 
throughout the fraternity. These songs, The Rose of 
Alpha Xi, Evening Song and Alpha Xi Delta Girls are to 
be known henceforth as “Our National Songs.” 

Five round table discussions were held during the con¬ 
vention. The topics and the chapters in charge of their 


initial presentation were: 

1. College Panhellenics . Nu. 

2. Pledge Education. Gamma. 

3. Management and Finance. Eh°- 

4. What Type of Girl Shall We Choose? .Alpha Theta. 

5. Chapter Organization'. Eta. 







250 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


The national officers elected were: National Presi¬ 
dent, M. Olive Johnson, Omicron; National Vice-presi¬ 
dent, Myrtle Jones-Stevens, Mu; National Executive 
Secretary, Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta; National Treasurer, 
Lulu Runge, Theta; National Visitor, Myrtle Coker- 
Combe, Kappa; Associate Editor, Hazel Mercer, Delta; 
Alumnae Editor, Helen Willis Lynn, Pi; Business Man¬ 
ager, Calla Andrus, Theta; Extension Secretary, Clara 
Koenig, Mu. The province presidents and vice-presi¬ 
dents were: I, Lucile Thornton-Newman, Eta, Winnafred 
Corwin Robinson, Theta; II, Wilhelmina Slaymaker- 
Kinsey, Psi, Theda Shaw-Holen, Alpha Epsilon; III, Lida 
Jones Atkins, Xi, Ethelyn Arnold, Alpha Alpha; IV, Iva 
Baker-Chase, Sigma, Frances Crane, Beta; V, Madeline 
Woodworth-Gladish, Nu, Dixie Young, Alpha Zeta; VI, 
Kathleen Murchison, Nu, Helen Wurdeman, Theta. 

Social Side: 

We were excited when we reached Lexington, Ken¬ 
tucky, and met so many of our Alpha Xi Delta sisters. 
We registered at the LaFayette Hotel, our headquarters, 
and then went for a ride around Lexington in cars fur¬ 
nished by the Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis 
Club. The places we visited were Ashland, the home of 
Henry Clay; the Coldstream dairy farm and the stables 
of the famous Man-of-War, who has won twenty races 
out of twenty-one. 

In the evening we held an informal reception in the 
ballroom of the LaFayette Hotel, for the president of 
Kentucky University, the faculty and the Lexington 
people. 

The following afternoon we had a beautiful auto ride 
along the Kentucky river to Shakertown. At the Inn we 
had a typical southern dinner with beaten biscuits and 
baking powder biscuits which far outstripped any I ever 
ate before or since. 

The dean of women at the University of Kentucky, 




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252 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Miss Frances Jewell, entertained us at tea, receiving on 
the campus Thursday afternoon. 

Friday we all took the Interurban to Frankfort. 
First we went to the old state house, now a museum. 
Many of us looked forward to the trip up the Kentucky 
river in a real river boat as some of us had never been in 
one. We danced and sang* and drank punch until time 
for lunch. The trip ended only too soon and we went 
back to Lexington, tired, hot and happy. 

The formal banquet was held Saturday evening in 
the ballroom. It was a fitting close to such an inspiring 
week. Austin Lily, Xi, was a charming toastmistress. 
Her speech of greeting was responded to by Alpha, Up- 
silon, Omega, Alpha Iota, Nu, Theta and Zeta Chapters. 
Julia Maude Foster and Almira Cheney gave delightful 
talks, telling how Alpha Chapter was first organized. 

Saturday afternoon we had a “walkout” to visit the 
places of interest in Lexington. The Lexington people 
and especially Xi Chapter more than proved the truth of 
“southern hospitality.” 

Helen McLandress, Theta. 

The Alpha Xi Delta, November, 1922. 


CHAPTER X 


THE NATIONAL PANHELLENIC CONGRESS 

T HE creation of a sane and friendly attitude through 
which to meet the varied problems of interfrater¬ 
nity relations has been the tangible ideal of the Na¬ 
tional Panhellenic Congress. These conferences have 
been productive of harmony and sincere co-operation 
between rival organizations. Not alone have fraternity 
relations been bettered and unnumbered chapter prob¬ 
lems solved but social conditions, as they affect the entire 
student body throughout our co-educational colleges, have 
been much improved. The iconoclastic American experi¬ 
ment of assembling together young men and young 
women for collegiate instruction has been freed by the 
deliberately projected influence of fraternity leaders 
from much of the early criticism which, attacked its 
thoughtless social customs. 

The movement which has crystallized in the National 
Panhellenic Congress dates back to a conference which 
met in Boston on April 15, 1891, in response to the invita¬ 
tion of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Delegates from seven 
national women’s fraternities considered how a combined 
effort might be made to secure (1) uniformity of inter¬ 
fraternity courtesy; (2) co-operation in purchasing fra¬ 
ternity jewelry and stationery for the purpose of 
increased security and cheapness; (3) a practical Pan¬ 
hellenic plan for the World’s Fair soon to be held in 
Chicago; (4) uniformity in the dates of the fraternity 
publications and (5) inter-chapter co-operation and 
etiquette. 

The proposed work was to be that of recommendation 
only, the reports to be submitted to each fraternity in¬ 
dividually for adoption or rejection. Although a stand- 


254 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

ing committee was appointed in the effort to keep the 
work alive, little was accomplished save making arrange¬ 
ments for the morning session which had been granted 
the women’s fraternities during the “Congress of Fra¬ 
ternities” held while the World’s Columbian Fair was 
in progress. 

The enthusiasm shown by these Panhellenic pioneers 
was to bear fruit ten years later when Mrs. Margaret 
Mason Whitney, Grand President of Alpha Phi, reopened 
the unsolved problem of saner rushing methods. Learn¬ 
ing in reply to her inquiries, that the Grand Presidents 
of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Delta Delta Delta were 
corresponding upon that same subject and that the Chi¬ 
cago Alumnae of Kappa Alpha Theta had placed a peti¬ 
tion before their Grand Council asking that the 
fraternities be invited to consider some means of reform 
in rushing, Mrs. Whitney felt justified in calling the first 
Inter-Sorority Conference, which met in Chicago, May 
24, 1902. 

Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gam¬ 
ma, Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta and 
Delta Delta Delta were represented by delegates. 

Six resolutions were adopted for submission to the 
various fraternities. It was hoped that their acceptance 
would form the basis for future work and provision was 
made for annual conferences. 

The following year the second Conference met, Sep¬ 
tember 19, 1903, to consider the reports upon these reso¬ 
lutions. A very definite gain had been made in the 
unanimous decision not to pledge before matriculation. 
The establishment of local Panhellenic Associations, 
having been accepted for all institutions where chapters 
of two or more national fraternities existed, the first 
chapter installed was held responsible for taking the 
initiative in the new work. The chairmanship of these 
associations was to be held by the chapters in rotation, 
according to the date of their installation. 

One of the enduring policies of the Conference 


CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF NATIONAL PANHELLENIC CONGRESSES 


The National Panhellenic Congress 


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256 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

emerged in the urging of all fraternity members to take 
an active part in those college organizations intended for 
the good of all students. 

Alpha Chi Omega and Chi Omega sent delegates to 
this Conference, making with those represented before, 
nine fraternities. 

The Third Intersorority Conference, meeting in 1904, 
admitted Alpha Xi Delta, represented by Anna Gillis 
Kimble, and voted to admit Sigma Kappa provided she 
accept the Conference rulings. 

By consent the order of rotation for holding the chair¬ 
manship of the Conferences was agreed upon and it was 
further decided that the delegate from the fraternity 
next in order for calling the Conference should act as 
secretary. 

The problem of the local associations were discussed 
and their purpose defined “not merely to promote good 
feeling and social intercourse but especially to discuss 
and act upon all matters of intersorority interest with a 
view to raising fraternity standards and ameliorating 
existing evils.” 

The last session was devoted to a discussion of the 
social service work proposed by Kappa Kappa Gamma. 
This was the first deliberate effort to utilize the possi¬ 
bilities of strength through consolidation of the organ¬ 
ized fraternity groups to aid in solving a problem exist¬ 
ing nation wide, in the carelessness of collegiate social 
customs. A standing committee was elected to have 
charge of this work, and the establishment of Women’s 
Leagues to include all women students was not only 
recommended but provided for in the colleges wherever 
a Greek-letter fraternity existed. The advisability of 
asking that a Dean of Women be appointed in all co-edu- 
cational colleges was given much consideration. 

The Conference of 1905 defined a national fraternity 
as one having at least five chapters, all in institutions of 
collegiate rank, and determined the interpretation of the 
term “collegiate rank.” 


The National Panhellenic Congress 257 

A constitution defining the powers of the Conference 
was adopted for submission to the member fraternities. 

In the effort to dissipate the uncertainty and con¬ 
fusion over the recommendation that Women’s Leagues 
be established, Ella Boston Leib, then secretary of the 
Conference, assisted by Miss Cleora C. Wheeler, Kappa 
Kappa Gamma, prepared a model constitution which 
furnished a simple working plan. 

The Conference of 1906 remodelled the constitution 
of 1905 which had failed to pass two Grand Presidents, 
and approved a model constitution for the local Pan¬ 
hellenic Associations which had been drafted by a com¬ 
mittee composed of Mrs. Ella Boston Leib, Mrs. Laura 
Norton, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Miss Elizabeth Gamble, 
Pi Beta Phi. 

High school sororities were condemned and the Con¬ 
ference put itself on record as proposing to use all its 
influence in the effort to end their existence. 

Social service work and co-operation with the Deans 
of Women in the correction of social evils were the chief 
subjects of discussion. A report was heard from the 
delegates who had been invited to meet with the confer¬ 
ence of the Deans of Women in state institutions. 

In the Conference of 1907 discussion of the exact 
meaning and wording of the Panhellenic constitution was 
prominent. Mrs. Ella Boston Leib, Miss Sara B. 
Mathews, Sigma Kappa, and Mrs. Laura H. Norton, 
Kappa Alpha Theta, formed the committee which pre¬ 
sented it in the form adopted. 

Social service work and the need of interested alumnae 
clubs were both urged. The high school fraternity was 
again condemned, with a more decided tendency toward 
some definite action showing itself. 

The Conference of 1908 endorsed a late, preferably 
a Sophomore, pledge day. Scholarship requirements for 
initiation were urged, the organization of all resident 
alumnae in college towns was suggested and each frater¬ 
nity was appealed to in the endeavor to make the position 


258 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

of chaperon in the chapter-houses one of dignity and 
definite duties. 

A plan was devised for the systematic exchange of 
fraternity magazines by all Conference members. 

Miss Jobelle Holcombe, Chi Omega, Mrs. Ella Boston 
Leib and Mrs. E. N. Parmelee, Delta Delta Delta, were 
appointed as a committee to draw up an interfraternity 
code concerning the dismissal of members, withdrawing 
of invitations and the breaking of pledges. 

All members were asked to include at least one ques¬ 
tion concerning the Conference and its work in their 
chapter examinations. 

The name of the conference was changed from the 
Intersorority Conference to the National Panhellenic 
Conference. 

The Conference of 1909 provided for a standing com¬ 
mittee on extension to whom petitions for admission to 
membership could be referred at any time during the 
year. It arranged through committees for reports on 
college facilities for student social affairs and on scholar¬ 
ship standards in the Conference fraternities. The word 
“fraternity” was substituted for the word “sorority” 
wherever it occurred in the constitution of the National 
Panhellenic Conference. 

The report of the committee on chaperons included 
recommendations (1) that a small salary in addition to 
board and room be offered the chaperon; (2) that the 
chaperon be required to confer twice a month with the 
Dean of Women and once a month with the social com¬ 
mittee, where one exists; (3) that a definite and clear 
agreement he entered upon on the part of chapter and 
chaperon, and that a printed or typewritten copy of the 
same shall be sent to the chapter’s Grand Council. 

Recommendations were adopted prohibiting rushing 
before matriculation and requiring the completion of ten 
hours work before initiation. 

The Conference of 1910 voted to request the frater¬ 
nities to give their delegates limited legislative power 


The National Panhellenic Congress 


259 


and thus do away with the hampering delay of referring 
even petty details back to the individual fraternities for 
adoption. The principal subjects discussed were the 
Deans ’ Conferences, extension of fraternities, local Pan¬ 
hellenic constitutions, scholarship requirements for fra¬ 
ternity members and social customs. It was recommended 
that all chaperons be salaried and given unlimited power 
to enforce rules for the common good. 

Limited legislative power having been granted to the 
delegates, the Conference of 1911 changed the name to 
the National Panhellenic Congress, signifying its new 
powers. A new constitution was adopted defining these 
powers—“to make laws pertaining to its own govern¬ 
ment, to levy annual dues, to admit at its discretion 
petitioning fraternities, to make final settlement of a dis¬ 
sension in local Panhellenic difficulties and to have ad¬ 
visory power over local Panhellenics.’ ’ An executive 
committee was appointed to have charge of business 
between sessions and of the issuance of a quarterly 
bulletin. 

The Grand Presidents of all but two of the frater¬ 
nities represented in the National Panhellenic Congress 
met in conference preliminary to the 1912 Congress to 
discuss matters on which they wished to reach a common 
understanding. A great many of the things which make 
the direction of a fraternity difficult were discussed and 
finally a code was drawn up, embodying the principals 
on which the Grand Presidents would act during the 
coming year. The meeting was the first of its kind ever 
held but so great was the value of the discussions it 
brought out that it became a permanent custom. 

The 1912 Congress reiterated its disapproval of high 
school fraternities. Committees were appointed to in¬ 
vestigate the grade of work done in summer schools, the 
Point System, Interfraternity Organizations, and Sopho¬ 
more Pledge day. 

Two resolutions were referred to the 'Grand Presi¬ 
dents to be submitted to their chapters: 


260 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

1. A girl who breaks her pledge shall not be invited 
to join another fraternity for one calendar year. 

2. A pledge shall expire at the end of one calendar 
year. 

The Congress of 1913 again dealt with the problem 
of the high school fraternity and the most important 
resolution which it adopted affected them. 

“No fraternity represented in the National Pan- 
hellenic Congress shall bid a girl who has been a member 
of a so-called sorority or other secret society of similar 
nature existing in a high school or other school of equiv¬ 
alent standing whether such society exists openly or 
secretly. 

‘ ‘ This rule shall apply to any person who shall either 
accept or retain membership in such society after Sep¬ 
tember, 1915.” 

Financial support was given the Chicago Collegiate 
Bureau of Occupation, whose work is the effort to place 
trained women in other positions than teaching. 

A clearly defined movement among Panhellenic lead¬ 
ers toward co-operation in improving local conditions led 
to the adoption of uniform chapter-house rules. 

In connection with this Congress the first conference 
of editors of fraternity magazines was held. Polly 
Fenton and Mary Rayne, then editor and business man¬ 
ager of The Alpha Xi Delta attended. 

Following established custom, each Congress closes 
with a luncheon open to all the women of its member fra¬ 
ternities. On this occasion, Miss Lillian Thompson, 
Gamma Phi Beta, who had served as chairman, served 
also as toastmistress, to the four hundred seventy Greek 
women attending. Six toasts formed the program. 

Vocational Possibilities for College Women.. Lena Baldwin, Alpha Xi Delta. 

Sophomore Pledge Day. Louise Monning, Phi Mu. 

Some Impressions of the Blackstone Meeting. .Polly Fenton, Alpha Xi Delta. 

Hostility to Fraternities—Cause and Cure.Amy O. Parmalee, 

Delta Delta Delta. 

The Possibilities of City Panhellenics.Ruth Haynes Carpenter, 

Kappa Alpha Theta. 

The Outlook in Panhellenism.Florence Armstrong, Alpha Chi Omega. 






The National Panhellenic Congress 


261 


The Congress of 1914 carried the motion that all fra¬ 
ternities encourage undergraduates to participate in one 
or two college activities and that emphasis he laid upon 
the desire of the National Councils for participation in 
the religious life of the institutions. 

Means through which the local Panhellenics could be 
made of use to the non-fraternity girls were discussed. 
The recommendation against the encouragement of 
Sophomore Pledging which had been adopted by the 
Twelfth Congress was written into the minutes. 

The business of the Congress was systematized with 
standing committees: 1. Eligibility, 2. Extension, 3. So¬ 
cial Customs, 4. Conference with College Presidents, 5. 
Local Panhellenics, 6. Recommendations, 7. City Pan¬ 
hellenics, 8. to study Secrecy of college fraternities, 9. 
to study Certain definite Phases of Fraternity life, 10. 
on Codification, 11. on Complication of Material in Fra¬ 
ternity Reference Bureau, 12. on recast of Eligibility 
Matriculation Clause. 

The Congress of 1915 made Banta’s Greek Exchange 
the official Panhellenic organ. It also determined that 
the Congress should meet biennially instead of annually. 

A resolution was adopted that the fraternities in¬ 
dividually consider the advisability of having the viola¬ 
tion of house rules limiting midweek engagements and 
closing the house at night reported to the Dean of 
Women. 

Three hundred eighty-five members of the congress 
fraternities attended the Panhellenic luncheon. Among 
the honored guests were Mrs. Martha Whitney, Alpha 
Phi, who called the first Intersorority Conference into 
being and Mrs. Bessie Leach Priddy, Delta Delta Delta, 
who attended the earlier meeting in 1892. 

Mrs. E. N. Parmalee, who had served as chairman, 
also served as toastmistress. Miss Lena Baldwin re¬ 
sponded to the first toast, “Work of the Fourteenth Con¬ 
gress/ ’ giving a resume of what had just been accom 


262 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

plished with a forecast of its influence upon the future of 
the fraternity world. 

The Fifteenth Panhellenic Congress, 1917, was called 
by Alpha Xi Delta with Miss Lena Baldwin acting as 
chairman and Mrs. Mary C. Love Collins, Chi Omega, 
acting as secretary. 

Mrs. Ruth Sibley-Haskell, Mrs. Anna Miller-Knote, 
Misses Bessie Williamson, Ellen Ball and Polly Fenton 
attended as visitors. 

The report of the Committee on Social Customs, based 
upon a questionnaire which had been sent to one hundred 
eighty-five chapters of Panhellenic fraternities, showed 
a general reduction in rushing expenses. This was in 
sympathy with the strongly developed sentiment among 
Panhellenic leaders that an elimination of the great ex¬ 
penditure of money during rushing would be a first great 
step toward the complete solution of that vexing question. 

Twenty-four chapters out of twenty-eight which were 
trying the Fellowship Plan of chaperonage were entirely 
successful with it. 

The Fellowship Plan provided that the chaperons of 
the women’s fraternity houses should be graduate fra¬ 
ternity members who were returning to college for grad¬ 
uate work. The chaperons were to receive tuition, room 
and board and a small salary. The effect of this plan, if 
adopted by all the Panhellenic fraternities, would be 
similar to the creation of a vast endowment fund to pro¬ 
vide scholarships for graduate study. 

The constitution was amended to permit each frater¬ 
nity representation by three delegates instead of but one. 
The provision of a single vote for each member fraternity 
was retained. The ruling allowed more than one woman 
to profit by attendance at the business sessions of the 
Congress, which are closed to the public. 

Resolutions dealing with college Panhellenics pro¬ 
vided that no chapter be permitted to withdraw from the 
college Panhellenic and that patronesses, alumnae and 
pledges be bound by rushing rules. The proof of a girl’s 
pledging was henceforth to be a dated, written statement, 


The National Panhellenic Congress 


263 


witnessed by a member of the chapter receiving the 
pledge. In order to facilitate the practice of this rule, 
the uniform Panhellenic pledge card was adopted. It is 
now used by every chapter of each Panhellenic fraternity. 

The decisions of the National Panhellenic Executive 
Committee were to be final settlement upon a case in hand 
and were to form a precedent unless one of the Grand 
Presidents involved reviewed the case at the next succeed¬ 
ing Congress. 

For some years much of the time of the Congress had 
been taken up with reviewing and hearing many details 
of petty troubles over rushing, which is the only conten¬ 
tion among fraternities. Probably the recommendation 
adopted which most effected the future value of tlie Con¬ 
gress was that providing that the body should henceforth 
meet as a conference and deal wholly with constructive 
policies which might be put into practice by each mem¬ 
ber fraternity. This meant that all difficulties from local 
college Panhellenics would be taken up with the councils 
of the fraternities involved instead of appealing to Na¬ 
tional Panhellenic Congress for decisions upon local 
troubles as in the past. 

Miss Lena Baldwin presided over the luncheon given 
the closing day of the Congress. The principal speaker, 
Miss Harriet Vittum, was then serving on the Illinois 
Council of Defense. Her address dealt with the necessity 
for women doing their part in order that the World War 
might come to a speedy and victorious end. 

Miss Baldwin served for the two succeeding years, 
October, 1917-October, 1919 as editor of the Panhellenic 
Department of Banta’s Greek Exchange. 

The Congress of 1919 considered the advisability of 
establishing a national bureau for chaperons for fra¬ 
ternity houses. In this way educated women with de¬ 
sirable experience and personalities might be brought in 
touch with chapters needing chaperons. 

In accordance with the policy of National Panhellenic 
which urges the development of new fraternities, a stand¬ 
ing committee was appointed to assist local social units 


264 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

in colleges and universities in organizing national groups. 

The need for stimulating the interest of college people 
in order that they might become a thinking citizenship 
was discussed. Any active steps toward the development 
of this ideal were left to the Committee on Conference 
with College Authorities. 

The great benefit of the Congresses is growing to be 
the free exchange of ideas between women who are meet¬ 
ing different phases of the same problem in their frater¬ 
nity work. Three round table discussions were held, 
“The Organized Social Group,’’ “The College and the 
Fraternity” and “Vocational Guidance.” 

Mrs. Anna Miller-Knote was appointed chairman of 
the standing committee on College Panhellenics. Serv¬ 
ing with her were Mrs. Kolbe, Kappa Kappa Gamma, 
and Mrs. McCausland, Alpha Omicron Pi. 

The Congress of 1921 formulated definite plans for 
making the College Panhellenics something more than 
an organization which drafts rushing rules. Each Col¬ 
lege Panhellenic shall hold five open meetings during the 
year. The program for these meetings, as determined 
for the succeeding two years, was 1. Health, 2. Education, 
3. Vocations, 4. Fraternity programs, 5. Contributions to 
be made by College Panhellenics to their respective col¬ 
leges. This was the first step taken in the effort to make 
the local Panhellenic organization one of benefit to the 
student body at large. 

The ruling on high school fraternities made in 1915 
rendering their members ineligible for membership in the 
National Panhellenic Congress fraternities was repealed. 
The attitude of the Congress in discountenancing these 
organizations was unchanged and plans were considered 
for the use of its influence toward their abolishment. 

The Congress of 1923 increased its membership by ad¬ 
mitting to full membership Beta Phi Alpha and to asso¬ 
ciate membership, Alpha Delta Theta and Theta Upsilon. 

A resolution was adopted accepting the invitation of 
the League of Women Voters to assist in its educational 
projects and recommending that the member fraterni- 


Fraternity Examinations 


265 


ties co-operate with that organization in whatever ways 
they might find best. 

A new publicity plan was adopted, creating a publicity 
chairman who will work with the executive committee. 
A certain amount of space will be given over to N.P.C. in 
each issue of Banta’s Greek Exchange, this publication 
constituting the principal medium of expression. 

Dr. T. C. Galloway gave an informal talk to the con¬ 
gress, speaking on social hygiene. Miss Emma Hirth, 
Director of the Bureau of Vocational Information, New 
York City, made an address on education for practical 
living. Mrs. Maud Wood Park, president of the Women 
Voters’ League, urged women to enter party organization 
and spoke of the work of the League. 

Dr. May Agness Hopkins, Dr. May Keller and Mary C. 
Love Collins all spoke on health. This subject is 
seriously discussed before N.P.C. because the civilization 
of the world depends on the education and attitude of 
women, who, as home-makers, are the molders of life. 

Greetings were sent by the Congress to Mrs. Calvin 
Coolidge, the first fraternity woman to preside over the 
White House. 

The Fourteenth Congress, 1915, adopted a creed which 
embodies the ideals of all fraternity women. 

The Panhellenic Creed 

We, the fraternity undergraduate members, stand for good scholar¬ 
ship, for the guarding of good health, for whole-hearted co-operation with 
our college’s ideals for student life, for the maintenance of tine social 
standards, and for the serving, to the best of our ability, of our college 
community. Good college citizenship as a preparation for good citizenship 
in the larger world of alumnae days, is the ideal that shall guide our 
chapter activities. 

We, the fraternity alumnae members, stand for an active, sympathetic 
interest in the life of our undergraduate sisters, for the encouragement of 
high scholarship, for the maintenance of healthful physical conditions in 
chapter-house and dormitory, and for using our influence to further the 
best standards for the education of the young women of America. Loyal 
service through the character building inspired in the close contact and 
our fraternity activities. 

We, the fraternity officers, stand tfor loyal and earnest work for the 
realization of these fraternity standards. Co-operation for the main- 


266 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


tenance of fraternity life in harmony with its best possibilities is the ideal 
that shall guide our fraternity activities. 

We, the fraternity women of America, stand for preparation for 
service through the character building inspired in the close contact and 
deep friendship of fraternity life. To us fraternity life is not the enjoy¬ 
ment of special privileges but an opportunity to prepare for wide and 
wise human service. 

The Sixteenth Congress, 1919, adopted a brief statement of the ac¬ 
cepted standards of ethical conduct of fraternity women. 

Standards of Ethical Conduct 

Whereas the ideals toward which all fraternities are working and 
which can only be gained by co-operation, which co-operation is only 
perfected when there is thorough understanding of the relation of local 
chapters to the nationals, of local chapters to each other, and of local 
chapter to the institutions in which the respective chapters occur: be it 
resolved that each fraternity, through its officers, be made responsible for 
bringing to the attention of its chapters, the following Standards of 
Ethical Conduct which are accepted and which will then become binding 
on all National Panhellenic fraternities. 

1. That in case of Panhellenic difficulties all chapters involved do their 
utmost to restore harmony and to prevent publicity, both in the college and 
city community. 

2. That any National Panhellenic fraternity whom a local is petition¬ 
ing shall insist that such group conform to college Panhellenic conditions 
as to pledging, etc., where it is established. 

3. That National Panhellenic fraternity chapters unite in assisting 
local groups in colleges and universities to obtain national charters. 

4. That National Panhellenic fraternity chapters shall be expected 
to keep before the attention of their members the legislation regarding high 
school fraternities and sororities, and to obey the regulation strictly. 

5. That visiting officers of National Panhellenic fraternities shall be 
expected not to interfere with regular routine work of the college but, on 
the contrary, that they shall encourage chapters to keep the college business 
day free from social engagements. 

6. That it is beneath the standards of fraternity women: 

(a) To speak disparagingly of any fraternity or any college 
woman. 

(b) To create any feeling between fraternity and nonfraternity 
women. 

(c) To allow an account of minor social functions to appear in 
the public press. 

7. That National Panhellenic fraternities shall impress upon their 
members that they shall respect and obey the letter and the spirit of any 
agreements which have been made either by the college Panhellenic or 
National Panhellenic. 


CHAPTER XI 


FRATERNITY EXAMINATIONS 

W ITH the growth and expansion of onr fraternity, 
soon it became evident that some means must he 
found which would insure intelligent thought upon 
and analysis of the problems of fraternity life by the 
active members. Since the legislative power of the fra¬ 
ternity rested in their hands, the development of well 
informed opinions and practical policies was highly 
important. Leading to familiarity with the history, gov¬ 
ernment and organization of the fraternity as it does, 
the fraternity examination was the means adopted to 
secure this desired end. Not only does the preparation 
for it cause and compel classification of one’s knowledge 
concerning the fraternity, but also presents and requires 
consideration of both local and national conditions. 

The need to think about existing problems and condi¬ 
tions, to form definite opinions concerning them which is 
brought about by the necessity for writing those same 
opinions down upon paper is one of the influences devel¬ 
oping and enlarging fraternity life. Whatever causes 
one to pause and weigh the circumstances among which 
one moves, to approve or disapprove of them with sug¬ 
gested remedies, also instills and builds up the power of 
constructive criticism and initiative in thinking. 

The foreshadowing of our fraternity examination is 
found in the action of the First National Convention in 
appointing a committee of Axie Lute-Mitchell, Beta, 
Mary Salmon-Bolton, Gamma, and Mabel Sammons, Al¬ 
pha, to consider the advisability of examining all conven¬ 
tion delegates upon their knowledge of the fraternity 
constitution. 

However, it was not until the Third Convention, 1905, 


268 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

that the annual examination took its permanent place 
in the accepted policies of the fraternity. Examinations 
were given to the active members for # the first time in 
1906 and in 1907 a single inserted sheet in the journal an¬ 
nounced the results of that year’s examination, listing 
the names of all who had received a grade of over ninety- 
five. A paragraph at the top of the page stated that the 
results were more satisfactory than those of the preced¬ 
ing year and concluded “Covering as the questions do, 
sorority history, government, convention action and 
secret work as well as the intersorority movement, a thor¬ 
ough knowledge of these subjects is necessary in order 
to answer correctly and intelligently. ’ ’ The custom here 
mentioned, of asking questions upon the secret work of 
the fraternity was soon no longer followed. 

At the Fourth Convention, 1907, Maud Andrew-Van 
Camp, and Frances Richey, both of Alpha Chapter, were 
appointed to prepare “ten plain questions” and to de¬ 
termine how best the examination for the following year, 
1908, might be given. In 1909 alumnae of Gamma Chap¬ 
ter were in charge of this task. 

In her address at the Fifth Convention, 1909, Grand 
President Leib said, “These examinations have helped 
our members to a wider knowledge of our own and other 
sororities and have become a permanent part of our work. 
That they are of great benefit we do not deny, but the 
work of correcting and grading papers has become ardu¬ 
ous, as all those who have done it will testify. We must 
consider who is to do this, whether a committee or a 
grand officer.” 

Up until this time the vice-presidency had been an 
office comparatively free from work. It was Mrs. Leib’s 
suggestion that the grand vice-president be made chair¬ 
man of a committee to have charge of the annual ex¬ 
amination. Legislation to that effect was adopted. With 
the creation of the office of executive-secretary, however, 
this duty was again transferred, the examinations now 
being sent out by that officer. 


Fraternity Examinations 


269 


The far reaching influence of the fraternity examina¬ 
tion through the thought and discussion it invoked was 
recognized and made use of by the Intersorority Con¬ 
ference at its seventh meeting, 1908, when it asked each 
of its members to place at least one question concerning 
it and its work in their annual fraternity examination. 

The Sixth Convention, 1911, adopted a motion pro¬ 
viding that examinations be given by classes. The 
Seventh Convention, 1913, instituted the plan now in use. 


It provided that examinations be given in the subjects 
as follows: 

Freshmen . General facts about Alpha Xi Delta. 

Sophomore.... General facts about Alpha Xi Delta and problems 

of the Greek world. 

Junior.Panhellenics and fraternities in general. 

Senior.Alpha Xi Delta problems and ideals. 


The advantages of this plan are evident. There is 
far too much material for one to become readily familiar 
with in a short, time. Neither is a girl’s judgment and 
knowledge of fraternal problems developed to its maxi¬ 
mum comprehension and value until she has been a mem¬ 
ber for several years. Nor is her appraisal of Alpha Xi 
Delta ideals thorough and complete until they have fully 
grown into her life. 

The marking of the papers, which Mrs. Leib regarded 
as burdensome in 1907 continued to grow in the amount 
of toil it required. The work was divided among the 
alumnae chapters for a number of years. This arrange¬ 
ment, not altogether satisfactory, was brought to an end 
by the Eleventh Convention, 1922. It enacted legisla¬ 
tion definitely assigning the task to the province presi¬ 
dent and province vice-president. A motion was also 
carried, requiring that the members of a petitioning local 
take, before their installation as a chapter of Alpha Xi 
Delta, the examination given to pledges before initiation. 

From time to time reports of examinations have ap¬ 
peared in The Alpha Xi Delta. Sometimes chapter aver¬ 
ages were given, sometimes lists of the girls who had 





270 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

received above ninety or above ninety-five. Once the 
name of each girl with the mark she had made was pub¬ 
lished. These reports no longer appear in the journal 
but are given the chapters through the Quill. 

The examinations are a benefit to the fraternity as 
well as to its members. They afford the officers an 
opportunity of knowing what the active members are 
thinking. They give to the college members a direct 
means of suggestion and expression of opinion, which is 
of worth in the growth and development of an organiza¬ 
tion dependent upon those same college members for its 
value and success. 


CHAPTER XII 


“THE ALPHA XI DELTA,” “DIRECTORY” AND 
“QUILL” 

A T THE First National Convention of Alpha Xi 
Delta, 1903, its members, undaunted by the fact 
that three chapters comprised the entire frater¬ 
nity, determined upon the immediate establishment of a 
journal. Anna Gillis-Kimble, Alpha, had just been grad- 
nated from Lombard College. During her senior year 
she had edited the Lombard Review and she seemed the 
logical person to undertake the difficulties of this impor¬ 
tant work. As her assistants the convention elected Mary 
Emily Kay, Gamma, associate editor, and Axie Lute- 
Mitchell, Beta, business manager. 

The first number of The Alpha Xi Delta appeared in 
February, 1904. It was bound in gray and bore the 
legend “Alpha Xi Delta of the Alpha Xi Delta Sorority.” 
Feeling that the fraternity was entering upon a new 
epoch, Mrs. Kimble had made this first number of its 
journal a summary of its existence to that time. The 
frontispiece was a picture of Cora Bollinger-Block, to 
whom had come the signal honor of being Alpha Xi 
Delta’s first local and first national president. 

The leading article, “A Retrospect,” was written by 
Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha. She recounted the organization 
of the fraternity and gave brief biographies of each of 
the founders. Biographies and pictures of the first grand 
officers follow. 

An article in memoriam to Frances Cheney reveals 
the loving memory in which she was held. One of her 
poems, The Thought in the Heart of the Rose appears 
in this number. 


272 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


The first convention is discussed in detail, the business 
minutes being given as well as a social account and the 
group picture of officers and delegates. Two articles are 
quoted from the midsummer number, 1903, The Delta of 
Sigma Nu, with a picture of the Fifth Division Conven¬ 
tion of that fraternity, which also met in Galesburg, May 



Editorial Staff, 1904-05 

Mary Salmon Bolton 

Mabel Hartzell Mildred Tucker 


8-9, 1903, and did so much to add to the pleasure of 
the delegates to the Alpha Xi Delta Convention. 

Margaret Curtis-Pierce, Delta, contributed an eager 
assertation of woman’s place in the world: “There’s a 
Woman In It.” An anonymous member of Gamma had 
written a story, “When the Rush Was On,” with incidents 


The Alpha Xi Delta 


273 


of the kind over which every fraternity woman has 
thrilled in anxiety at some time in her college years. 

Several brief articles, editorials, personals, chapter 
letters and chapter pictures and an interesting exchange 
department conclude its contents. 

The second number appeared in June, 1904—a change 
having been made to a blue and gold cover. In this num¬ 
ber originate two customs which have been followed since 
by The Alpha Xi Delta. A traveler’s account is given 
of a wedding trip through Yellowstone National Park. 
So many travelers have since shared their impressions 
and experiences with their stay-at-home sisters. Brief 
histories of Bethany College and the University of South 
Dakota began the long series of similar articles through 
which the fraternity has glimpsed the environment of 
its chapters. 

The Second Convention, 1904, reluctantly accepted 
Mrs. Kimble’s decision that she could no longer continue 
as editor. The importance of the editorial work was rec¬ 
ognized by making that office one of the grand offices and 
its incumbent a member of the grand committee. The 
editorial staff elected was composed of Mary Salmon- 
Bolton, Grand Editor; Mildred Tucker, Associate Editor; 
Mabel Hartzell, Business Manager; all being of Gamma 
Chapter. 

Three numbers of the journal appeared in # 1904-5. 
The most interesting of the new features was “Every 
day Council,” a department which has always been pop¬ 
ular with college members. In it are recounted clever 
rushing parties, unusual ways of entertaining and any of 
the interesting chapter plans worth sharing with others. 
The cover now in use was light blue with dark blue letter¬ 
ing, a golden quill and blue and gold monogram being 
used together in its center. 

The Third Convention elected as its editorial staff: 
Bertha Cleveland-Patterson, Grand Editor; Gertrude 
Wright-Gilmour, Associate Editor; Dora Lockwood, 
Business Manager; Martha Hutchings-McKean, Assist- 


274 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

ant Business Manager; all of Eta Chapter. This was the 
first staff to serve a term of two years, a result of the 
change from annual to biennial conventions. 

There is a persistent 
earnest questioning run T 
ing through the articles in 
these early numbers, a 
seeking of the way in 
which to realize the 
highest possibilities of 
fraternity life. Over and 
over the question is asked 
and here and there is an 
answer, vibrating and 
clear, written by a girl 
who has found and recog¬ 
nized in her fraternity 
those things which her 
heart was seeking. 

The Fourth Conven¬ 
tion, October, 1907, again 
elected a staff composed entirely of Eta members: Martha 
Hutchings-McKean, Grand Editor; Gertrude Wright- 
Gilmour, Associate Editor; Dora Lockwood, Business 
Manager; Edith Lawrence, Assistant Business Manager. 

In 1.907-8 four numbers of the journal appeared, the 
number which has been continued since. An effort toward 
Panhellenic education was made by having a brief history 
of one of the National Panhellenic Congress fraternities 
in each number. 

Ruth Sibley-Haskell, Lambda, was elected Grand 
Editor by the Fifth Convention, 1909. Her staff was 
composed of Mary Meek Atkeson, Iota, Associate Editor, 
and Katherine Keith-Stamp, Gamma, Business Manager. 

The tendency of college trained women to seek other 
professional work than that of teaching, which began to 
be noticeable about this time, was reflected in the journal. 
From time to time articles appeared giving information 



Martha Hutchings-McKean, Eta 


The Alpha Xi Delta 275 

of the varied and interesting opportunities offered in 
business life. 

Up until the time of the Sixth Convention, 1911, the 
journal had been printed wherever seemed convenient to 
the editor or business manager. So far as its publication 
went, within ten years it had appeared from Galesburg, 
Illinois; Alliance, Ohio; Syracuse, New York, and again 
from Alliance. Upon the recommendation of Mrs. Has¬ 
kell, the retiring editor, arrangements were made with 
a single publishing firm which has since handled that side 
of the journal. The convenience of dealing with pub 
lishers familiar with the customs and requirements of 
the fraternity was soon evident. Provision was made 
also for life subscriptions to The Alpha Xi Delta, a fea¬ 
ture which had hitherto been non-existent. 

The staff elected in 1911 was composed of Polly Fen¬ 
ton, Theta, Grand Editor; Mary Meek Atkeson, Iota, 
Associate Editor; Martha Fargo, Kappa, Alumnae Ed¬ 
itor; Mary Payne, Theta, Business Manager. Martha 
Fargo was first to hold the position of alumnae editor, an 
office which had been created by the Sixth Convention in 
the effort to relieve the grand editor of some of her in¬ 
creased work, due to the growth of the journal. 

From the time of its establishment there had been no 
official cover for the journal. Each editor made her 
own arrangements with the printer, using what seemed 
suitable. The need of a uniform appearance was keenly 
felt and the Sixth Convention appointed a committee to 
select a design. The cover chosen appeared first on the 
number for June, 1912, and has been in continuous use 
since that time. 

In March, 1913, an historical number was issued, 
commemorative of the twentieth anniversary of Alpha Xi 
Deltas founding. Short biographies of the founders 
were given. Julia Maude Foster had written an account 
of the organization of the fraternity and an article by 
Ella Boston Leib recounted the events of the national 
movement. The period from 1903-13 was discussed 


276 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


by Polly Fenton and the nine volumes of the journal were 
reviewed by Mary Meek Atkeson. 

After ten successful years it was easy to smile over 
the misgivings with which requests for exchanges were 
met by the editors of men’s fraternity journals. The 
Alpha Xi Delta was one of the early magazines to be pub¬ 
lished by a women’s fraternity and the editor of Delta 
Sigma’s Desmos expressed the original sentiment of his 
brother editors when he wrote: 

And now cometh the Alpha Xi Delta sorority journal with a request 
for an exchange. This editing a fraternity magazine in a fashion to 
please the critical taste of college girls is bound to be pretty severe on a 
short, fat gentleman that is striving to lead an honest life and keep some 
hair on his head as the years roll by. When we first began to jerk this 
Archimedian lever we had for readers only our professional brothers and 
a few exchange editors, and we may have occasionally made unguarded 
remarks that were perfectly proper when one’s readers are considered, but 
which might cast a gloom over a sorority magazine editoress fully equal 
to that produced by a cockroach between two buckwheat cakes. That is 
now all past. This magazine has, by perseverance and patience, accumu¬ 
lated three exchangesses, and it is is going to live up to its opportunity. 
No more the merry jest and quirk and jibe. From now henceforth the 
serious shall claim our undivided attention. Our aim shall be lofty, our 
purpose of the highest. This is where we hitch our wagon to a star—comic 
opera preferred. Let none protest. The edict has gone forth. 

At the Seventh Convention, 1913, the staff then serv¬ 
ing was reelected with the exception of Mary Meek 
Atkeson. Her resignation was reluctantly accepted and 
her place filled by Edith Bradford, Lambda. 

Through the efforts of Polly Fenton and Mary Rayne 
a complete file of The Alpha Xi Delta had been collected 
and placed in the national archives. Realizing its great 
value as a store house of fraternity history, the conven¬ 
tion adopted a ruling which requires each chapter to bind 
and place on its shelves each succeeding volume of the 
journal. The binding is done at one place, which is 
chosen by the Grand Editor. 

Up until this time the journal had had no required 
financial support from alumnae, a fact which added much 


The Alpha Xi Delta 


277 


to the business problems of its manager. Two dollars 
was now added to the initiation fee of each member in 
payment of a subscription to The Alpha Xi Delta for the 

first two years after leav¬ 
ing college. 

The Eighth Conven¬ 
tion, 1915, reelected the 
same editorial staff, three 
of whose members had 
served four years and the 
fourth member two years. 

Miss Fargo was com¬ 
pelled to resign early in 
1917 because of added 
press in her professional 
duties at the Los Angeles 
county library. The posi¬ 
tion of alumnae editor was 
filled temporarily by Ida 
Fenton Leonard, Theta. 

With the entrance of 
the United States into the 
World War, the character 
of The Alpha Xi Delta un¬ 
derwent an abrupt change, 
lives of American college 
students. Its pages were given over to the flaming patri¬ 
otism of youth and equally to the practical application of 
that patriotism to the increasing difficulties of those 
years. Hooverized recipes appear as an aid to house 
managers, eager accounts are given of sacrificed dances 
to benefit the French or Belgium relief, of splendid cam¬ 
paigns made successful by the selfdenial of those who 
“gave until it hurt.” Again and again appear the per¬ 
sonal records of Alpha Xi Deltas who served the cause 
of civilization at the camps on this side of the water or at 
those over seas. 

In July, 1918, the Ninth Convention elected Anna 



Edith Bradford, Lambda 


It reflected the change in the 


278 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Miller-Knote, Zeta, Executive Secretary, an office which 
was then made to include that of National Editor. Her 
staff was composed of Hazel Macy-MacNamee, Lambda, 
Associate Editor; Grace Spencer-Phillips, Kappa, Alum 
nae Editor; Hazel Mercer, Delta, Business Manager. 

The result of the influence of the World War, which 
had opened the pages of the journal to so many topics 
foreign to them until that time, continued to he evident. 
Whatever is of interest to women in their development 
and their qualification for the responsibilities which life 
brings them is now material for The Alpha Xi Delta. 
Beyond the thought of being fraternity women or college 
women is that of being worthy citizens of a great country. 

The editorial staff elected by the Tenth Convention 
was composed of Ethel Baldwin-Bruce, Eta, National 
Executive Secretary; Ethel Hoskins-Armstrong, Mu, 
Associate Editor; Irene Baine-Mix, Mu, Alumnae Editor; 
Hazel Mercer, Delta, Business Manager. 

An especially interesting department developed at 
this time was one treating of college customs. Each col¬ 
lege has its own customs and beloved traditions—an 
indispensable part of its background. Familiarity with 
the peculiar features of student life brings revealing 
knowledge. Old traditions and revered customs are 
formed by the love of generation after generation of 
students and proclaim the manner of men and women 
who observe them. 

The Eleventh Convention, 1922, took action which will 
eventually endow The Alpha Xi Delta and permanently 
solve the financial problems attendant upon its publica¬ 
tion. Life subscriptions were required of all members 
initiated after July 1, 1922. A campaign for life sub¬ 
scriptions from alumnae members was instituted through 
the co-operation of the alumnae chapters. 

The staff elected at this time was composed of Anna 
Miller-Knote, Executive Secretary; Hazel Mercer, Delta, 
Associate Editor; Helen Willis-Lynn, Pi, Alumnae Ed¬ 
itor; Calla Andrus, Theta, Business Manager. 


The Directory 


279 


In May, 1923, an historical number was published, 
celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of 
Alpha Xi Delta. The pictures of Alpha Chapter in 1893 
and 1894 were of unusual interest as were the greetings 
to the fraternity from the founders who had called it into 
being and from the former presidents who had directed 
the growth of that being. 

The journal has recorded the development of Alpha 
Xi Delta since it first turned its thoughts outward from 
Lombard College. In it are revealed the problems which 
the fraternity faced and the solutions which it found for 
them. The movements which have influenced the world 
of college Greeks are here portrayed. 

In the first years of its national life Alpha Xi Delta 
was bending every effort toward the prompt and firm 
establishment of its blue and golden banner over worthy 
chapters. Its thoughts were centered upon its own needs 
and advancement or that advancement had not been so 
sure and permanent. With the accomplishment of the 
first steps in its larger life, the fraternity was freer to 
think of others and to take its part in the movements 
affecting women, both as students and alumnae. This 
struggle, followed by the widening outlook, is faithfully 
portrayed in the journal. Through The Alpha Xi Delta 
is revealed both the brain life and the heart life of the 
fraternity. 


“THE DIRECTORY” 

Not least in value among its publications is a frater¬ 
nity’s directory of its members. The condensed informa¬ 
tion which it contains is put to many uses. In no other 
way is the growth and strength of a fraternity so well 
revealed as through directory pages. 

The first Alpha Xi Delta directory was made in 1902 
when Alpha Chapter brought the list of its membership 
up to date in regard to addresses and married names, in 
order that the national organization might begin with 
correct historical data. 


280 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

The first printed directory appeared in May, 1905. 
It was a simple, alphabetical list of names which took up 
the last five pages of that number of the journal. Four 
years later, a second directory appeared in August, 1909. 
It was again combined with an issue of the journal. In 
addition to the alphabetical list the names were given by 
chapters, according to the order of initiation. This ar¬ 
rangement proved to have little reference value and was 
not used again. 

The Alpha Xi Delta for August, 1911 contained the 
third directory. The names were arranged in the man¬ 
ner which has been used since. Two lists were given, a 
geographical one and an alphabetical one in which mar¬ 
ried women were listed under both their maiden and 
married names. 

It was decided by convention action that the fourth 
edition of the directory should be published separately 
from the journal. Hence, it appeared as a supplement 
to the December number, 1913. This edition was the 
work of Edna Johnson-Austin, Lambda, who had been 
appointed for that task by the Seventh Convention. 

The governmental urge to the saving of paper during 
the World War and the time shortly after it caused the 
fifth directory to appear as a number of the journal, 
November, 1919. The sixth edition was published in 1923 
and is the work of Rho Chapter and Lincoln Alumna; 
Chapter, directed by Lulu Runge. A departure from 
custom was made with this edition in that it was sold as 
a separate publication instead of being mailed without 
charge to all subscribers of the journal. 

‘‘THE QUILL” 

From time to time there arise questions of policy or 
the interpretation of rulings which it is desirable to dis¬ 
cuss with the entire fraternity. Yet such questions are 
of an intimate nature and not of public interest. Lengthy 
explanations carried on through correspondence is an 
added burden to already over-busy officials. 


The Quill 


281 


An attempt to solve this problem was made by with¬ 
drawing an issue of the journal from exchange and 
mailing it only to fraternity members. While that served 
the required purpose it was not an altogether satisfac¬ 
tory method. 

In 1913, the Seventh Convention established a secret 
publication, The Quill, which was to appear twice a year 
in months in which the journal is not published. Its 
pages afforded national officers a simple means of com¬ 
munication with all the chapters and a direct avenue tor 
the discussion of fraternity policy. 

As originally planned, its publication rested with the 
national officers in turn, exclusive of the editor-in-chief. 
With the establishment of the office of executive secre¬ 
tary, this duty also developed upon the secretary, but was 
to be performed with the aid of the other national officers. 

The expense of the publication of The Quill is born 
by the national treasury. It is mailed to all college and 
alumnae chapters and to those members who are doing 
national work. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE SONGBOOK 

T HROUGHOUT the ages song has proven itself the 
superior medium for the articulation of emotion. 
From the airy nonsense of gayest moods, to the 
ringing challenge to combat with its aftermath of victory 
or defeat, through sober thought to deepest sorrow, every 
phase of human experience has found musical interpre¬ 
tation. It is not surprising that the vision of Alpha Xi 
Delta, called forth by the ideals and mutual love of our 
founders, should have inspired songs even before the 
first golden quills were worn. 

Frances Cheney, whose poet-heart made such great 
gifts to the fraternity, wrote a number of poems, some of 
which were set to music. Our Chapter is the Dearest 
which later came to be called by the words of its first line, 
Strong are the Ties Which Bind Us, is probably the most 
sung of her compositions to-day. 

Louie Strong-Taylor wrote The Roses Grow in Vain 
and set it to the tune of Bring Back My Bonnie To Me. 
This was a favorite serenading song with Alpha Chapter 
in its early days. 

The first edition of the songbook appeared in 1900. 
It was arranged and printed by Delta Theta Chapter of 
Sigma Nu and presented to Alpha Xi Delta as a gift upon 
the seventh anniversary of Founders’ Day. It was a 
slender, paper-bound volume, done in light and dark blue, 
the fraternity’s colors. It contained the words of thir¬ 
teen songs, at least five of these being by Frances Cheney. 
She is represented by Strong Are the Ties Which Bind 
Us, a Welcome Song which was then sung just befoire the 
initiation service, two militant hymns voicing Alpha Xi 
Delta’s resolution to live and Delta, a Power for Good 


The Songbook 


283 


which expressed much of the hope our founders cherished 
for their organization. Louie Strong-Taylor’s The 
Roses Grow in Vain, Maude Hoskinson-Smith’s Alpha, 
Thou Art Our Guide, An Alpha-Sig Song by Helen Miles- 
Smith, a Reunion Song by Mary Thorn, two songs dedi¬ 
cated to the fraternity by members of Sigma Nu and 
several unsigned poems completed the volume. 

While the First National Convention, 1903, authorized 
the publication of a second edition of the songbook, it was 
several years before it was brought out. Meanwhile as 
new songs were written they appeared in the journal. 
Two among these were notable. Vol. I, No. 1. contained 
The Thought in the Heart of the Rose by Frances Cheney, 
which has taken an unusually sacred place in the life of 
the fraternity. The Farewell Song by Anna Miller- 
Knote, Zeta, was published in 1905. That year Zeta 
Chapter was particularly sorrowful at losing four sen¬ 
iors, three of whom had been founders of the chapter. 
At the close of the last chapter meeting for the year, the 
freshmen gave a dinner in honor of the seniors. Mrs. 
Knote had written the song for that occasion and the 
girls who were leaving sang it through once, the chapter 
joining them in its second singing. The singing of this 
song at the year’s last chapter meeting not only became 
a Zeta custom, but many other chapters also observe it. 

The Third Convention, 1905, acted favorably upon 
the publication of a second edition of the songbook. Eta 
Chapter was appointed as a committee in charge of this 
work, being under the direction of Terese Tobin-Wright 
and Martha Hutchings-McKean. In speaking of their 
work at the Fifth Convention, Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha, 
said in her presidential address, 

Eta Chapter, directed by Martha McKean and Terese Wright, have 
done a splendid work in collecting Alpha songs and publishing them. It 
is a great help in strengthening* sorority spirit to have frequent singing of 
our songs. Martha and Terese have written and composed both words and 
music and have made the songbook a great success. 


284 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

The Fourth Convention, 1907, appointed Margaret 
Hoard-Garrett, Eta, as Custodian of the Songbook, and 
she has now given seventeen years of uninterrupted serv¬ 
ice in that capacity. A discussion arose of the suggestion 
that each initiate be required to buy a book. It was de¬ 
cided that the purchase should not be an absolute require¬ 
ment, but that persuasion be used to secure that result. 

By some chance the Welcome Song written by Frances 
Cheney had been used by the fraternity but a short time. 
In 1907 Edith Van Cise-Willets, Beta, and Mabel L. Bay, 
Beta, were asked to write a song, especially for use in 
connection with the initiation service. The songs now 
used were their response. • 

The knowledge of the fraternity’s songs was felt to 
be so important an influence in binding the hearts of its 
members to it that the Fourth Convention, 1907, adopted 
a ruling requiring that before initiation pledges pass an 
examination based upon the songs which had been 
assigned them for memorizing. 

At the Seventh Convention, 1913, the third edition of 
the songbook was determined upon. For some reason no 
progress was made with the work during the next two 
'years and in 1915 the committee which actually edited the 
book was appointed. It consisted, of Clara Nelson, Eta, 
chairman, Helen Chase-Bulgin, Eta, Helen Gunderson, 
Epsilon and Ella Christenson-Colton, Eta. 

The sale of songbooks to initiates by persuasion seems 
not to have been entirely satisfactory. In order that the 
songbook might be entirely self-supporting a ruling was 
adopted requiring its purchase by every member of the 
fraternity. It is so easy to borrow a book when in the 
college chapter. But when one has joined alumnae ranks 
no force is so potent in recalling loved memories as that 
felt when sitting at the piano, softly playing and singing 
the songs of Alpha Xi Delta. 

Many customs have grown up in the various chapters 
which center about individual songs. Two are especially 
worthy of mention for their influence has slowly spread 


The Songbook 


285 


until a number of chapters observe both. Pi Chapter 
first began to close its meetings with a doxology sung to 
the tune of My Faith Looks Up to Thee. 

God bless our colors three. 

May they of service be 
To Thee above. 

Long may our mystic quill 

Thy sacred will fulfill: 

Ever a symbol still 
Of truth and love. 

A blessing which is sung before meals by many of our 
chapters originated with Sigma Chapter. It follows the 
most familiar melody to which the Doxology is sung. 

Be present at our table, Lord. 

Be here and everywhere adored 

And grant that this our prayer may be, 

To live in peace and harmony. 

There are but two song customs which have received 
national observation. The Reunion Song is always sung 
at the opening of each convention. Then, if ever, there is 
truly a reunion of Alpha Xi Delta, when the fraternity 
tie transforms strangers from the far corners of our 
country into dear friends working together toward a 
common end. 

The Eleventh Convention, 1922, learned through the* 
vote of its members the three songs most generally loved 
throughout the fraternity. The songs so chosen were: 
The Rose of Alpha Xi, Evening Song and Alpha Xi 
Delta Girls. These songs will henceforth be known as our 
“National Songs” and will be among those required for 
memorizing during pledge instruction. 

The singing of songs together has from time immem- 
orable brought closer the hearts of the singers. So it is 
that though our singers be scattered in groups instead 
of assembled together, yet as their voices give life to the 
chosen melodies, the knowledge that all other chapters 
everywhere are singing the same songs will fill their 
hearts and renew fraternal love. 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE HISTORY 

O UR founders and their immediate successors did 
not at once vision the growth of the organization 
which they had formed. They were engaged in 
firmly establishing the place of Alpha Xi Delta in the 
undergraduate life of Lombard College and in proving 
practical the idealistic dream which had led to its in¬ 
ception. 

So with the women who were active in the nationaliza¬ 
tion work. Their time and energy were consumed by the 
countless questions demanding unpostponed answers. 
The many tasks requiring to be done, both those of de¬ 
tailed routine and those of constructive importance, did 
not allow their attention to wander far from the thing at 
hand. 

Thus it was that some years passed before the im¬ 
portance and the interest of their work to succeeding 
generations of college women was realized by our leaders. 
The first suggestion that at some time Alpha Xi Delta 
would wish to publish a history came from Ella Boston- 
Leib, Alpha. In her memorable address to the Fifth 
Convention in which she forecast so much of the devel¬ 
opment of the fraternity, she spoke of the time when it 
would become both desirable and practical to publish a 
history. She recommended that some provision be made 
for collecting records from year to year which would 
prove valuable when the time came for them to be of use. 

In response to this suggestion of Mrs. Leib, a ruling 
was adopted that on every Founders ’ Day the historian 
of each college chapter file with the Grand Vice-president 
a history of her chapter for the year just passed. 

It was not until 1913 that it seemed desirable to go 


Margaret Ferriss, Theta 


Esther Dunning, Upsilon 






Fern Falloon, Pi 


Helen Willis Lynn, Pi 


288 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

forward with this project. Then the Seventh Convention 
appointed Mrs. Leib to serve as the editor of the history, 
her term of office to last until 1919. 

Mrs. Leib was by far the member of the fraternity 
best qualified to perform this task. She was familiar 
with the traditions of our founding, knowing most of the 
founders personally. She had been a member of Alpha 
Chapter at the time of the national movement. With the 
exception of but one year she had served as a national 
officer from April 17, 1902 until October 30, 1909, giving 
more than five years to the duties which belong to the 
presidency. Unfortunately, prolonged illness and death 
coming to her family, made it impossible for Mrs. Leib to 
perform the rather arduous task which she had so loyally 
planned to undertake. 

Helen Willis-Lynn, Pi, was appointed as editor of the 
fraternity history by the Eleventh Convention, 1922. 
Serving with her were Esther Dunning, Upsilon, Fern 
Falloon, Pi, and Margaret Ferris, Theta. The plan pur¬ 
sued was that of having each associate editor responsible 
for a definite portion of the work. 

The history was first placed on sale at the Twelfth 
Convention, 1924. An especial effort by the national 
council had made that convention an unusual reunion of 
our founders. At an appointed hour the founders and 
national officers present sat together, autographing the 
histories which were brought to them for that purpose 
by the girls who had purchased them. A charge was 
made for the signatures and the money so raised added 
to the National Scholarship Fund. Thus a few strokes of 
the pen had made those copies of the history more preg¬ 
nant with fraternity association and contributed ma¬ 
terially to a cause dear to Alpha Xi Delta. 

An unforeseen result of the writing of the history 
was the collection of the third complete file of The Alpha 
Xi Delta. At the time when Mrs. Lynn began her work 
there were but two complete files in existence; that in the 
national archives and the one in the Panhellenic Collec- 


The History 


289 


tion of the New York Public Library. In her search for 
material, Mrs. Lynn built up a file of journals, being 
especially indebted to Anna Gillis-Kimble, Alpha, for 
complete copies of volumes I and II and to Cora Bol- 
linger-Block, Alpha, for copies of sixteen early numbers. 
This file, when no longer needed for refernce use, was 
offered to Alpha Chapter since so large a part of it had 
been gifts from members of Alpha. In order that no un¬ 
fortunate chance may ever again scatter the collected 
journals, Alpha Chapter had the volumes bound before 
placing them on its library shelves. 

The correspondence necessitated by research work for 
the history brought letters from our founders and from 
most of the women who had sometime served as national 
officers. These letters, relating the development of Alpha 
Xi Delta by the women who had guided that development, 
were added to the national archives. So was an in¬ 
valuable treasure preserved for those who come after us 
for the reading of a letter, written no mattre how long 
before, brings one into intimate contact with the mind of 
the writer as a friend smiling at one. 


CHAPTER XV 


THE NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND 
ERY early in the life of Alpha Xi Delta an earnest 



desire grew in the hearts of its members. They 


longed for the time to come when they would be 
able to express in material form the fraternity’s two 
great ideals—service to others and sincere scholarship. 
They dreamed of a scholarship fund which would aid 
worthy and ambitious girls to higher education. This 
dream was first clothed in words at the Fifth Convention, 
1909. An earnest discussion as to ways and means ended 
with the reluctant decision that it was not yet a possi¬ 
bility for the fraternity to finance such a fund. 

The desire continued to live in the heart of Alpha Xi 
Delta as one of the things which the future must yield. 
In 1913 the Seventh Convention again considered the 
possibility of establishing a graduate scholarship fund. 
Feeling that a small beginning was preferable to longer 
delay, it determined upon a sum of three hundred dollars. 
Of this money, two hundred twenty-five dollars was to be 
paid from the national treasury and seventy-five dollars 
was to be raised by the alumnae chapters. By some 
chance, this fund which had been intended to benefit some 
member of Alpha Xi Delta was never used. The frater¬ 
nity had hoped that its modest offering might achieve 
some result, but it was unregarded. 

In 1920 the Tenth Convention expressed the will of 
the fraternity in determining to endow a graduate schol¬ 
arship fund of ten thousand dollars. Five hundred 
dollars of the income derived from this sum is to be given 
each year to the American Association of University 
Women, to be awarded by them as a graduate scholarship 
available for use in either the United States or Europe. 


The National Scholarship Fund 


291 


In accordance with the desire of our founders that Alpha 
Xi Delta might be of service to others outside the frater¬ 
nity, the granting of this scholarship is in no way in¬ 
fluenced by the membership or non-membership of the 
applicants for it. 

The remainder of the income, derived from the prin¬ 
cipal of ten thousand dollars, remains in the treasury of 
Alpha Xi Delta and forms the basis of a loan fund. As 
time brings increase to this fund, the national organiza¬ 
tion will be able more and more to help those among our 
own membership who, through financial difficulties, 
might otherwise have had to discontinue their college 
studies. 

The San Francisco Alumnae Chapter with Eileen 
Kengla as its chairman was appointed as the committee 
on funds. Its “Dollar Campaign” was at once inaugu¬ 
rated. An effort was made to reach every Alpha Xi 
Delta, both college and alumnae members, securing the 
gift of one dollar from each. Thus, from the moment of 
its inception, this fund represents the gift of the united 
fraternity. 

It had been hoped that the entire amount might be 
raised by 1922; but the hope ended in disappointment. 
The delegates to the Eleventh Convention, 1922, again 
endorsed the chosen national work. The money of the 
early scholarship fund was transferred to the one now 
being established. The amount yet to be secured was 
apportioned among the college chapters in proportion to 
their total membership, both college and alumnae. The 
San Francisco Alumnae Chapter was retained as the com¬ 
mittee in charge of the fund and Miss Kengla was asked 
to continue to serve as chairman. With renewed de¬ 
termination college and alumnae chapters sought to do 
their part in bringing the long dream of Alpha Xi Delta 
to fruition. 

The value to women of higher education is more and 
more accepted. From the beginning the fraternity ftas 
made more pleasant the life of women students. It is 


292 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


fitting that a helping hand should now be reached forth, 
continuing the work of aiding women to fulfill their 
highest possibilities. 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE HONOR RING 

A N EDUCATED, Christian womanhood is the ideal 
in the heart of every Alpha Xi Delta. Its teach¬ 
ing encourages the doing well of each daily task 
as it occurs and includes the faithful performance of the 
mere details of duty as well as the more spectacular 
phases which duty sometimes assumes. The principles 
of Alpha Xi Delta when applied each day to college life 
induce and compel high scholarship. 

From its early years our fraternity favored the recog¬ 
nition of adherence to our lofty conception of college 
life and scholarship. This sentiment crystallized in 1909 
when the Fifth Convention appointed Mary Emily Kay, 
Gamma, to investigate systems of awards and honors for 
scholarship. The Sixth Convention accepted her report 
in 1911. 

Her recommendation was that an honor ring should 
be conferred upon those girls who would graduate with 
an average of 90% in their studies for the four years, or 
who would be elected to Phi Beta Kappa or Sigma Xi. 
Those graduated in preceding years, whose work would 
have entitled them to the award, and who had contributed 
to our national advancement through some personal serv¬ 
ice, were to receive the ring also. In 1915 the required 
standard was advanced to 93% as more nearly equalling 
the work represented by Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. 
Later, Omicron Nu was added to the roll of honorary 
fraternities. 

Mattie Fargo, Kappa, and Ida Fenton, Theta, were 
appointed as the committee to select the design for the 
honor ring. Their report was accepted at the Seventh 
Convention, 1913, where the ring was first conferred. 


294 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

The girls present, who were entitled to the honor of the 
ring, were asked to come forward. Leda Atkeson-Sheets, 
Iota, and Annie Lonise Dean, Xi, responded. So orig¬ 
inated the fitting custom of honoring our true students 
at convention, a custom which was abandoned in 1918. 
The Eighth Convention adopted a ruling at that time 
which provided that the national organization should no 
longer grant the ring itself, but should confer the right 
to wear the ring upon those girls whose high standing in 
scholarship had entitled them to that honor. 

Many of the college chapters have taken up the custom 
laid aside so reluctantly by the National Chapter, and 
grant the honor ring to such of their members as win the 
right to wear it. 

Most unfortunately the national archives contained 
no list of our honor ring members in 1923. The list 
given here is as complete as a search of The Alpha Xi 
Delta for past years and the co-operation of both college 
and alumnae chapters could make it. 

ALPHA CHAPTER 

Czarina M. Hall, 1913 

BETA CHAPTER 

Miriam Woolson-Brooks, 2 £, 1893 Florence Buck-Hagie, 1916 
Helen Mary Walker, 1912 Jeannette Buck-Hileman, 1916 

Lela Pape-Caris, 1916 Viola Carson-Newell, 1916 

Martha Benbow, 1916 


GAMMA CHAPTER 


Ethel Hively, 1914 
Hazel Purcell, 1914 
Freda Spring, 1914 
Rhea Whitman-Blythe, 1914 
Bess Grinnell-Bender, 1915 
Iva Underwood-Bean, 1915 
Leila Wiles-Ernst, 1915 
Edith Anderson-Omedt, 1916 
Rhea Davis, 1916 
Wilda Matthias, 1916 


Pearl Miller-Wykoff, 1916 
Mina Parsons-Springer, 1916 
Corda Peck, 1916 
Olive Saltsman, 1916 
Velora Thompson-Westfall, 1916 
Ruby Wintzer, 1916 
Jessie Allott-Bowman, 1917 
Olive Shontz-Weaver, 1917 
Renna Ross, 1917 
Carrie Walker, 1919 


The Honor Ring 


295 


Estella Scott-Stoll, 1919 
Mary Koch-Harris, 1919 
Margaret Woods, 1919 
Vivian Doane-Seott, 1919 

DELTA 

Velma Rodefer, 1913 
Edith Mercer, 1913 
Barbara E. Hurt, 1915 


Gladys Rymer, 1919 
Nesta Weaver-Slates, 1919 
Norma Wintzer, 1919 
Helen E. Wright, 1920 

CHAPTER 

Margaret Brittain-Mahan, 1915 
Margaret Monroe, 1916 
Elizabeth Morgan, 1916 


EPSILON CHAPTER 

Ella Christenson-Colton, 1912 Emily Way, 1915 

Helen L. Gunderson, 1913 Frances Gunderson, 1917 

ZETA CHAPTER 


Anna Miller-Knote, 1905 
Hortense Miller-Cromer, 1913 
Esther Blazer-DeVoe, 1914 
Ruth Cox-Tuttle, 1914 
Hazel Hamilton-Beach, 1914 
Ruth Homrighaus-Collins, 1914 
Isabella Kennan, 1914 
Martha Reynolds-Breyley, 1914 
Mary Altick-Skardon, 1915 
Frances Bell-Keifer, 1915 


Edna Little-Fross, 1915 
Helen Byers-Wearley, 1915 
Esther Wise-Landefeld, 1915 
Vera Miller-Pershing, 1916 
Mildred Kuhns-Kock, 1916 
Mildred Myers-Gregory, 1916 
Mildred Smith-Cory, 1916 
Winifred Knapp-Thornton, 1917 
Edith Cutchall, 1917 


ETA CHAPTER 


Martha Hutchings-McKean, $ B K, 
1907 

Josephine Howse, 4> B K, 1913 
Helen DeLong, 4> B K, 1919 


Dorothy Bryan-Dench, <J> B K, 1919 
Florence Decker, <J> B K, 1920 
Dorothy Gallinger, $ B K, 1921 
Mary Platt, 4> B K, 1922 


THETA CHAPTER 


Marion Ryan, 4> B K, 1906 
Agnes Davis-Goff, 4> B K, 1912 
Marjory Davis-Livingston, 1914 
Gertrude Lundberg-Cuff, 1914 
Florence Coerper-Brown, 4> B K, 
1914, 2 3, 1917 

Dora Miller-Osterheld, 4> B K, 1915 
Helen L. Wurdeman, 4> B K, 1915 
Marjorie Burwell-Gratiot, 4> B K, 
1916 


Beth Reuss-Thompson, 4> B K, 1916 
Anne Heise-Jennings, 4> B K, 1917 
Helen B. Smith, 4* B K, 1919 
Virginia Tener-Butterfield, 1919 
Anna Stofflet, 4> B K, 1920 
Dorothy Jones-Krohn, O N, 1921 
Josephine Shearer, O N, 1921 
Gladys Haskins, 4> B K, 1922 
Helen Weir, 1922 



Honor Ring Members, 1913 












The Honor Ring 


297 


IOTA CHAPTER 


Leda Atkeson-Sheets, <i> B K, 1912 
Blanche F. Emery, 1912 
Mary Meek Atkeson, 1913 
Eleanor E. Herring, <i> B K, 1913 
Sallie Evans-Lyon, <£ B K, 1916 
Mary Amanda Hervey, 1917 


Bernice Scott, $ B K, 1919 
Charlotte Berryman, <£ B K, 1921 
Malissa Crowl, 1921 
Nell Hock, <t> B K, 1922 
Inez Hustead, <J> B K, 1922 
Carrie Fleming, $ B K, 1922 


KAPPA CHAPTER 


Wilhelmina Gentsch-Harris, <j? B K, 
1907 

Byne Goodman, «J> B K, 1912 
Nellie Reitz-Taylor, 2 &, 1912 
Clara Eckhardt-Evans, $ B K, 1912 
Helen Fisher-Hohman, <£ B K, 1916 

LAMBDA 

Lena Abbe-Webster, 4> B K, 1901 
Florence Garton-Needham, <|> B K, 

1905 

Alice Hayward Edwards, 4> B K, 

1906 

Fannie May Clement, <3? B K, 1906 
Marian Colby, <£ B K, 1913 
Isabella Cameron-Cutler, 1914 
Hazel Macy-McNamee, <1> B K, 1914 


Bess East-Miller, $ B K, 1916 
Ethel Gliffe-Woodyatt, 4> B K, 1918 
Lois Seyster-Montrose, $ B K, 1919 
Frances Wine, 4> B K, 1922 
Josephine Hoffman, 4> B K, 1922 

CHAPTER 

Margaret Hea, 1915 
Margaret Cragin, B K, 1916 
Alice Cotton-Dolbear, 4> B K, 1916 
Grace Sherburne, $ B K, 1919 
Hilda Hinckley, 4> B K, 1919 
Margaret Lynch, <t> B K, 1920 
Harriet Hayward, B K, 1921 
Alice Danver, 4> B K, 1921 
Edith Folsom, $ B K, 1922 


MU CHAPTER 

Clara Hankey-Koenig, <t> B K, 1911 Elsie Hankey, 4> B K, 1914 
Alta Potts-Stringham, <t> B K, 1914 Loretta MacNamara, 4> B K, 1923 


NU CHAPTER 


Elsie Waddingham-Ridley, 4> B K, 
1907 

Adelaide Fischer, <f> B K, 1909 
Dorothy Mason-Palmer, 4> B K, 1912 


Anna Balch Ridgway, 4> B K, 1912 
Anne Cameron, 1914 
Florence Ball, 1915 
Marie Wilson-Kerry, <t> B K, 1915 


XI CHAPTER 


Anna Dean-McElroy, 1912 
Addie Dean-Watts, 1912 
♦Elizabeth Waddy, 1914 
Kathleen Sullivan Still, 1916 


Natalie Wood-Bailey, 1915 
Austin Lilly, 1919 
Mildred Graham, 1919 
Zula Ferguson, 1919 


* Deceased 



Honor Ring Members, 1913 


















The Honor Bing 


299 


OMICRON CHAPTER 

^Elizabeth Kedrolivansky, <t> B K, Marguerite Templeton, <f> B K, 1918 
1908 Ruth Carmichael-Dalquist, 4> B K, 

Ella Lillian Wall, 1914 1919 

Myrtal Lovdell-Rosenthal, «t> B K, 

1916 

PI CHAPTER 


Virginia Crissenberry-Harding, 1913 

Key Wenrick, 1913 

Irene Virginia Aber, 1915 

Nina Conner Aber, 1915 

^Christine Lawe-Nye, 1915 

Effie Hedges-Cooperrider, 1915 

Cora Mast-Baker, 1915 


Mary Pelley-Johnston, 1915 
Olive Robens-Ridge, 1916 
Eirene Esch-Milligan, 1917 
Mary Kerr, 1917 
Grace Barker, 1920 
Pauline Walden, 1922 


RHO CHAPTER 


Agnes Nielson, 1915 
Isabel Coons-Gillespie, 4> B K, 1915 
Caryl Spaulding, <J> B K, 1916 
Fern Longacre-Srb, <t> B K, 1914 
Edith Yungblut-Babson, $ B K, 
1918 


Ada Kibler, 1918 
Lucile Keith, 1918 
Marianne Whitaker, <J> B K, 1919 
Augusta Kibler, <t> B K, 1919 
Louise Emmett, 0 N, 1922 
Jessie Tucker, $ B K, 1922 


SIGrMA chapter 


Mildred Yule-Phelps, 2 £, 1906 
Bessie L. Pierce, B K, 1910 
Helen W&ldron-Latham, <J> B K, 1912 
Lucile Waldron-Roberts, 1917 


Alice McMahon, <t> B K, 1920 
Mary Anderson-Cox, <J> B K, 1920 
Frances Dearborn, <£ B K, 1920 
Esther Sharpe, 4> B K, 1922 


TAU CHAPTER 

Phyllis M. Blanchard, 1917 


UPSILON 
Hazel McCuen-Powers, 4> B K, 1915 
Augustine LaRochelle, 4> B K, 1916 
Laura Porter-Fuller, <|> B K, 1916 
Edith Halstead-Porter, 4> B K, 1919 


CHAPTER 

Marian Kimball-Walker, 4> B K, 
1919 

Pearl Snodgrass, 4> B K, 1920 
Mildred Hooker, 4> B K, 1921 
Dorothy French, 4> B K, 1922 


PHI 

Bess Duffey, 1916 
Viva Allen-Riker, 1916 
Lela Jane Taylor, 1916 
* Deceased 


CHAPTER 

Nina Crowley, 1917 
Alta McCombs, 1917 
Freda Earl-Quail, 1919 







. <•• ■ 








Honor Ring Members, 1913 















The Honor* Bing 


301 


Mable Mather, 1919 
Eleanor Cooper, 1921 
Opal Johnston, 1921 

CHI 

Leah Jennerson, 1916 

Helen Trant, 1916 

Clara Dains-Williamson, 1916 


Ruth Peck, 1922 

Irene Conklin, 1922 

Elizabeth Gordon-Harper, 1922 

CHAPTER 

Margaret Coleman-Rose, 1917 
Ruth Jackson-Leatherman, 1917 
May Anderson, 1917 


PSI CHAPTER 

Alice McNeil-Budd, 1916 Rhoda Schiek-Nusbaum, <£ B K, 1917 

Ruth Schaehne-Friedman, $ B K, Emily Harris, <i> B K, 1917 
1916 Martha Schlingman, $BK, 1920 

Wilhelmina Slaymaker-Kinsey, 

<i> B K, 1916 

OMEGA CHAPTER 

Nellie Stevens, 1921 Olga Bowen, 1918 

Grace Watson, 1922 


ALPHA BETA CHAPTER, CORNELL UNIVERSITY 

Margaret Campbell, O N, 1921 Dorothy DeLany, O N, 1923 

ALPHA GAMMA CHAPTER 

Agnes Walker, 1920 Bertha Biederman, 1921 

Dorothy Moninger, 1921 


ALPHA DELTA CHAPTER 

Laura Zeigler, 1919 


ALPHA EPSILON CHAPTER 

Lisla Crittenden, $ B K, 1898 Jean MacLellan, B K, 1919 

Margaret Buckley Shull, $ B K, 

1908 

ALPHA ZETA CHAPTER 

Lola Leske, B K, 1922 Margaret Jones, 1923 

Laura Leske, <J> B K, 1922 Clara Willis, 1923 

Ottalie Terrill, <|> B K, 1922 


302 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


ALPHA ETA CHAPTER 


Nina Windle-Mahin, 0 N, 1916 
Mabel Briggs, 0 N, 1919 
Ruth Custer-Heckard, 2 S, O N : 
1920 

Ruth Jordan, 0 N, 1920 
Gleela Ratcliffe, 0 N, 1920 


Gladys Scott-Shideler, 0 N, 
Bessie Viemont, 0 N, 1921 
Mary Furr, 0 N, 1921 
Lillian White, 0 N, 1921 
Arlina Knoblock, 0 N, 1923 


1920 


ALPHA THETA CHAPTER 

Virginia Scott, 4> B K, 1922 



CHAPTER XVII 


ALPHA XI DELTA EUROPEAN TRIP 


A reminiscence of the first fraternity trip to Europe with Miss Mary Emily Kay 
and a bit of adviee to members of succeeding parties. 


MARGARET F. FERRIS 



HERE were sixteen of us. A convenient number it 


was, too, as the compartments on European trains 


hold eight and we could just fill two. Sometimes 
when sight-seeing or on shopping expeditions we thought 
the number a trifle large, but we all agreed in the next 
breath that we could not part with a single member. If 
you know any of the girls youTl understand why. Miss 
Mary Kay, Carolyn Kay, Rhea Davis, all of Alliance, 
Ohio; Ruth Palmer, Mrs. Frank Ruthnow, Cleveland, 
Ohio; Martha Harrod, Leetonia, Ohio; Edith Mercer, 
Randolph, Ohio; Lucile Handyards, Wyoming, New 
York; Emma Herlen, Niagara Falls, New York; Mar¬ 
guerite, Helen and Josephine Fischer, Fort Pierre, South 
Dakota; Gwendolyn Drayton, Orchard, Nebraska; Mar¬ 
garet Ferris, Waterloo, Iowa; Eva Fisher and Mrs. Sara 
Ransom, Detroit, Michigan. Elsie Hanky, Minneapolis, 
Minn., and Bvne Goodman, Champaign, Illinois, were 
with us until Paris—about half of the time. 

From the first morning when we all assembled to¬ 
gether in the hotel in Montreal there was a keen feeling 
of comradeship which, I’m confident, sprang from our 
mutual interests as fraternity sisters. Some of us had 
been getting acquainted by correspondence since our 
registration and we felt like old friends. Our first break¬ 
fast together was indicative of the general tone of a 
happy family which was characteristic of our whole 
journey. I feel quite sure that no promiscuously chosen 
group of the same number could have been as happy to- 


304 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

gether and as free from unpleasant pettiness as we. Our 
Alpha Xi Delta ideals and training were responsible for 
this as well as the fact that all the girls possess the 
worthwhile characteristics we like and find in our mem¬ 
bers. 

We were to sail from Montreal, but due to the low 
river, it was necessary toi take a train to Quebec and go 
aboard there. Is there anything quite so exciting as 
going aboard a ship, finding your state-room, getting 
your mail and packages, sending a last farewell to the 
folks at home, hunting out your deck chair and finally, 
hanging over the rail and straining your eyes for a last 
glimpse of shore. You won’t realize that green is the 
most beautiful color in the spectrum or that a tree is 
God’s greatest achievement until you’ve looked at 
“water, water everywhere” for days and days. Pro¬ 
vided, of course, that you are able to be on deck all of 
that time. Mary Kay says sea-sickness is all in one’s 
imagination. The Fischers and I were too ill to protest, 
but we still think, if that be true, our imaginations are 
strong enough to support the Woolworth building. Even 
such wretchedness is a small price to pay for the wonders 
to come. Besides, no one ever dies, though many would 
like to do so. 

Can you imagine a more sane Fourth of July than 
arriving in England? Narry a sound of the celebration 
we had been taught to associate with the day! But land¬ 
ing and in beautiful England gives a far greater thrill 
than the noise of any cannon cracker. We went at once 
to Chester. We have been undecided whether its whole 
charm lay in itself and its history or whether some was 
due to the joy of walking without having the pavement 
come up to meet you and being able to go as far as one 
wished in a straight line—ten times around the deck 
makes a mile and also makes one feel like a merry-go- 
round. 

We all loved rural England and can easily understand 
why the English gentleman lives in the country. We left 


Alpha Xi Delta European Trip 


305 


Chester and went to Warwick with side trips to Kenil¬ 
worth, Stratford-on-Avon and Leamington. A day was 
spent in Oxford and though we may be a trifle confused 
concerning the names and buildings of the colleges there, 
we remember the great fun of punting on the river Cher- 
well. A week was spent in London. At first we were 
disappointed. No high buildings, no soot, no hurry and 
confusion that characterize our American cities. We 
soon came to love the quaintness and beauty of the gal¬ 
leries and were sorry to leave. That feeling of not wish¬ 
ing to leave was one of our most frequently felt emotions 
throughout all the summer. 

We crossed the North Sea at night arriving in Ant 
werp quite early the next morning. This was our first 
real sight of a foreign land for, after all, England is 
really our cousin and her customs are not so different 
from our own. An American cruiser was in port at Ant¬ 
werp and Old Glory did bring a thrill. We were invited 
aboard and enjoyed the experience. From there we went 
on to Brussels, recognized as little Paris. Here we got 
our first glimpse of the deadly events of the war and 
what our Allies had to endure. The whole trip of nearly 
eight hours from Brussels to Paris brought scene after 
scene of devastation and ruin and mile after mile of 
wrecked Bed Cross ambulances, tanks and airplanes. It 
was awe inspiring to see, but very depressing. 

Paris comes up easily to all that is said of it. We 
didn’t see much of the characteristic night life because 
we were always tired at night from a whole day of new 
wonders. A week in Paris is not nearly long enough but 
one does see a great deal in that time. Trips to Ver¬ 
sailles, Chateau Thierry, Belleau Woods, and Bheims 
were among our greatest experiences. 

We had just a glimpse of what Germany might be 
like in our night’s stop in Strassburg. Switzerland was 
enchanting, especially to those of us who had never been 
in the mountains before. The beauty was fascinating 
and our minds enjoyed the relaxation of appreciation 


306 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

without trying to remember facts. The trips up Mt. 
Rigi and Jungfrau stand out as examples of the great 
feats accomplished by modern engineering. One gets all 
the experiences of an aviator without any of the com¬ 
plications. 

Peaceful days of rest and absorbing nature were 
spent in Legans and Bellagio, Italy. Thence we crossed 
beautiful Lake Como and went on to Venice. The romance 
of Venice has been sung throughout the ages, but sun¬ 
light banishes much of it. How can romance exist in 
filth! Filth and poverty do much to overshadow the 
beauty of Italy and her treasures, but even so, we could 
not omit that part of our trip. From Venice to Florence 
where the most choice of art treasures are found and 
where the temperature soars so high in the middle of the 
day that it is safer to remain indoors. We went to an 
Italian “movie” that ran true to form by killing off all 
the caste, reincarnating them and doing it all over again. 
We fully expected to be knifed in the back on the way to 
the hotel after that gruesomeness. 

We spent five days in Rome, crowned with an audience 
with the Pope and a motor trip to Tivolli. Visits to 
numberless churches and galleries gave us a feeling 
similar to that of cramming before examinations or swal¬ 
lowing a Christmas dinner whole. Our digestive powers 
were exhausted and we had to complete the process after 
we got home. 

Naples and the bay and Vesuvius! Second in splen¬ 
dor only to Amoldi which we visited on a motor trip from 
Naples through Pompeii, Rivello to Sorrento. The Blue 
Grotto at Capri was a splendid climax to a party tired 
almost beyond thrills. 

Through our days of journeying and sight-seeing had 
come experience with its wisdom as well as tiredness. 
Girls, be sure to take your kodaks when you go. You’ll 
cherish your pictures nearly as highly as your reputa¬ 
tions when you return. I have two memory books that I 
would not part with for a great deal. One is filled with 


Alpha Xi Delta European Trip 


307 


pictures of my own taking—twenty-one dozen of them— 
and the other with commercial pictures of all points of 
interest 1 ‘ over there/’ My advice is not to waste your 
films on buildings and scenes of that sort for you can buy 
prints at a low price and you are sure of your result. 
Even the best of us spoil a film occasionally and then you 
are out entirely. Pictures of places with members of 
your party included are always appreciated when you 
get home. Fancy the enjoyment of reassuring yourself 
that you were really there by looking at a snap of your¬ 
self in “no man’s land” or in the ruins of Kenilworth or 
coasting on Jungfrau. A year or so after your return it 
sometimes seems too good to be true and you wonder if 
you ever really went or whether you dreamed it. It is 
a comfortable method of pinching yourself to see if you 
are awake. 

And be sure to go prepared to shop! Mary Kay is a 
veteran shopper as well as traveler and will lead you to 
the most enticing shops. I know you will all wish they 
would discover oil in your father’s back yard so you 
could buy and buy and buy. But there are heaps of 
beautiful things moderately priced. Leave your shop¬ 
ping manners at home and go prepared to give the shop 
keeper two lire when he asks ten and five francs when he 
says twenty. It is a corrupting practice but one that is 
fully expected. But to get back to the articles one can 
buy—if there are any engaged girls among you don’t buy 
your linens or laces until you go over. You won’t know 
that anything so exquisite existed. Think of a real lace 
wedding veil! They have them to suit nearly any purse. 
If you are not engaged you cannot resist starting a hope- 
chest anyway. If you are anything like us, you will have 
it nearly filled before you see the Statue of Liberty 
again. You’ll buy linens, laces, prints of old Masters, 
cameos, beads and antiques until you won’t have any 
space to pack such common and earthly article^ as blouses 
and shoes. Of course, you will buy a “Paris Gown” and 
cherish it until death do you part. But remember, “he 


308 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


who dances must pay the fiddler.” Some day you are 
going to have to make out a declaration slip and face a 
customs officer so don’t let “Fay go unrestrained.” 

I sound so grandmotherly, giving advice, but we come 
to it sooner or later, just as I had always insisted that 
wearing a shawl was the last infirmity of old age and 
then consistently wore my Spanish shawl, bought in 
Rome, every evening on the boat coming home. Some of 
us hesitated to enthuse a second time over a twelve day 
ocean voyage, but we were all glad to start for home. It 
is only then that you realize how far away you have been. 
Either Providence was kind to us or we were better 
sailors for we really enjoyed the return voyage.. The 
one unpleasant experience of the entire trip was our 
parting in New York. It was hard to say good-bye after 
all our happy times together. There had sprung up 
among us close ties of friendship and we were grateful to 
Alpha Xi Delta for a most glorious summer. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


ALPHA XI DELTA IN THE WORLD WAR 
FERN FALLOON 

I T IS to America, with the spirit of fraternity that 
her democracy fosters, that we must credit the rise 
of the Greek-letter fraternities. During the years, 
previous to the Civil War, when colleges and universities 
were being moulded for a definite place in the life of the 
nation, those far-sighted men and women founded the 
fraternities which have come to parallel even the col¬ 
leges in developing the ideals of the youth of the nation. 
There came through the years of peace a marked and 
steady development, in the various fraternities; but not 
until the great World War, were the fraternities called 
upon for service beyond the realm of the halls of learn¬ 
ing. With the call to the colors and the preparation of 
our country for war, the fraternities took their place in 
the fore, and throughout the months served at home and 
abroad in a manner that has spelled immortality for that 
spirit of brotherhood and service that the fraternity rep¬ 
resents. Not alone in positions of trust in the climes of 
France, Belgium and Russia but in those dark, wearisome 
days of reconstruction have we found men and women, 
full of the spirit of fraternity, sacrificing themselves for 
service in the interest of peace and progress. It is that 
spirit of service, the devotion to the ideals of brother¬ 
hood, that sent those of our own people to sister nations 
in distress, to fight, suffer and die with them—that spirit 
of fraternalism inherited from our ancestors that we 
would honor. We would dedicate our praise not only to 
Alpha Xi Delta hut to the brotherhood of fraternity. 
And yet, the achievements of Alpha Xi Delta during the 
World War must stand in no dim and uncertain outline 


310 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

for those who will follow in her heritage; for, in the 
realization that they will desire to know of that splendid 
past assumed by their fraternity, we record her part. 

In writing a history which deals with the service of 
women in an international crisis, we must remember that 
because of the nature of a woman’s interest, her work 
is of a different trend than one usually associates with 
history. A woman’s work is less spectacular, and be¬ 
cause of that, opinion sometimes scorns her efforts. It 
is the lot of woman to sacrifice. The mothers who sent 
their sons to answer the call, the wives who sent husbands 
who might never return, the sweethearts who parted with 
those they loved, the sisters who sent brothers, experi¬ 
enced infinite heartaches and suffering. We cannot ever 
pay full tribute to those whose part was in active partici¬ 
pation in the combat and we would with the same 
appreciation honor those whose part was not an active 
one. 

And even in active service, we must feel that there 
have been many instances of courageous effort and sacri¬ 
fice with sublime heroism that will be forever closed to 
the confines of the printed page. Only would a record be 
complete if it extended from that early day, when the first 
Alpha Xi gave her service for the advancement of the 
cause, until the present time. But years have passed 
since the armistice day that closed open hostilities and 
many informative channels have closed with the passing 
of time. Yet untold instances of patriotism are . never 
lessened. They deserve a place in a history telling the 
active service of Alpha Xi Delta during an eventful 
period. 

America was the first country to give official recog¬ 
nition to women as a unit in the fighting machine. Recog¬ 
nizing woman power as a valuable asset in war work a 
Women’s Committee was created by the Council of 
National Defense. With unprecedented ability these 
women formulated a plan of organization which called 
for the development of the following departments: Regis- 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 


311 


tration; Food Administration; Education; Child Wel¬ 
fare; Social and Welfare Work; Organization; Liberty 
Loan; Health and Recreation Agencies; and Home and 
Foreign Relief. 

National organization then co-operated with this 
committee by expressing their willingness to serve in any 
way. The heads of these organizations were appointed 
to constitute an Honorary Advisory Committee. Such 
organizations as the National Federation of College 
Women, French and Belgian Relief, National League for 
Women’s Service, Y. W. C. A., and the Red Cross were 
enrolled in aiding the development of these departments. 
A glimpse in the past revealing the diversity of needs in 
such a crisis explains the variety of service in which 
women engaged. 

Turning then to Alpha Xi Delta’s participation in 
women’s war work we give befitting honor first to the 
alumnae chapters. Every one of the sixteen alumnae chap¬ 
ters, including: Alliance, Mt. Pleasant, Boston, Syracuse, 
Seattle, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis- 
St. Paul, San Francisco, Springfield, Madison, Galesburg, 
and Kansas City which existed during the war, was 
actively engaged as a unit in Red Cross work. The Red 
Cross rendered some of the most valuable service during 
the war. With only voluntary contributions as a working 
basis, this organization performed a service that makes 
its symbolic cross forever sacred in the memories of 
those who followed the activities of war. With those who 
gave their entire service to nursing under this unit were 
the women who gave their time to work in the Motor 
Corps, in Canteen Service, in Social Service, in Informa¬ 
tion and Reclamation Bureaus, in Surgical Dressings and 
War Relief Corps. 

Soon after the declaration of war, women began to 
send all kinds of materials to the Red Cross Headquar¬ 
ters. Very early the government and the central bureaus 
of the various organizations soliciting voluntary aid 
requested that goods be made as nearly uniform as pos- 


312 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

sible and in quantities that could be used. Accordingly 
certain work was assigned to officials in prescribed areas 
and careful watch given so that there should be no waste. 
The Red Cross gave the Alumnae chapters definite work 
which they did during their regular meetings. 

The work in its phases is varied then, not because of 
any interest existing within the chapters other than a 
hearty spirit of co-operation on the part of the women to 
fulfill the needs of the service men. The work included 
the making of afghans for hospitals, layettes for war 
orphans, comfort and hospital kits for soldiers, surgical 
dressings and knitting. The meetings proved to be gath¬ 
erings for the work upon Red Cross material for even 
while the regular business was being transacted the 
women were actively engaged in sewing or knitting. 
Individual members gave of their time in the Red Cross 
rooms so that all of their spare time was taken in the 
work. 

In addition to Red Cross work the chapters partici¬ 
pated in other war activities. The Alliance chapter was 
engaged in work in the National League for Woman's 
Service, a most remarkable war emergency organization; 
the Seattle alumnae worked through the French and Bel¬ 
gian Relief; the Springfield chapter sent representatives 
to aid in local draft board work; the Galesburg alumnae 
went out as instructors in sewing for Belgian Relief and 
made contributions to the Day Nursery Fund; while the 
Kansas City chapter sent knitted gifts to the Navy 
League. Unique in the contributions of chapters was 
that of San Francisco who sent money for relief of the 
family of Elizabeth Kedrolivansky that was starving in 
Russia. Elizabeth Kedrolivansky was one of the local 
founders of Omicron Chapter. Each chapter took up an 
active campaign to promote food conservation and the 
various members did everything possible to conserve in 
their own homes. Besides the amounts contributed in 
money in the various organization solicitations and drives 
by the chapters. The alumnae bought as chapter groups 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 


313 


varying amounts of Liberty Bonds. The Minneapolis- 
St. Paul Chapter purchased five hundred dollars in 
Liberty Bonds and the San Francisco group invested one 
hundred dollars. These specific examples are recorded 
only in the general trend of the chapter’s work. There 
can be no definite estimate as to the amounts contributed 
by the various members of the alumnae chapters. 

In turning to individuals of the fraternity alumnae, 
groupings and order will be made in accordance with the 
type of work. 



Ella Lillian Wall Treating an Officer Patient for Facial Paralysis 


Perhaps it was because of the inherent sympathy of 
women to help those in suffering, or it may be that 
ingress into that branch of service was easiest, that the 
Nursing Corps Service drew a vast army of women. 
After training they w T ere sent abroad to follow in the 
wake of battle and care for the wounded American boys. 
The service was trying, often carried on in improvised 









314 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

first-aid stations almost in line trenches, and although 
every precaution was taken to keep the nurses away from 
hostile fire, yet there was that impending danger from a 
foe who had no regard for the blazen cross of the hospital. 
Some of the women did their work in fields far removed 
from the scenes of war. This was in the long months of 
preparation for service, in many cases only to find at its 
completion that the war was over. Much of the hardest 
work was done in the re-building of the maimed and torn 
bodies of the wounded after the war. 

Ella Lillian Wall, Omicron T4, enlisted in July, 1918, 
at Letterman General Hospital, Presidio, San Francisco, 
in the Army Nursing Corps. Her specific duties were 
that of a Physiotherapist which came to mean electro¬ 
therapy and surgical illustration during operations for 
bone grafting and nerve suturing. She was mobilized 
for overseas duty with Unit 14, A. E. F. at the Nurses 
Mobilization Station in New York, November, 1918. Miss 
Wall was demobilized December 30, 1918, with Unit 23, 
A. E. F. and ordered to report to the Base Hospital, 
Camp Custer, Michigan. She was in charge of the Elec¬ 
trotherapy Department in orthopedic service in Camp 
Custer until March, 1920, when she was ordered to the 
General Hospital in New Jersey to take charge of facial 
paralysis cases where she received a reward of merit for 
her services. In June, 1919, she was sent to Canada for 
inspection of hospitals and appointed to a special over¬ 
seas commission July, 1919. At her own request she was 
ordered to Letterman to be honorably discharged August, 
1919. In 1921, she was sent to Coblenz for duty with the 
American Army of Occupation. Upon her return she be¬ 
came a member of the Berkeley Post No. 7 American 
Legion and was made chairman of the Welfare Work for 
1922. Miss Wall was elected second vice-commander for 
1923 in an uncontested election as the first girl to be so 
honored. While on a visit in Oakland, Commander Alvin 
Owsley installed her amid great ovation. 

Another branch of governmental service which af- 



Esther Sleight and One of Her Littlei Pets 

The Little House in the Treetops Reading Room—Foyer Des Alliees Tours 

























316 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

forded active work in France was that of the Signal 
Corps. Blanche Grande-Maitre, Mn ’ll, sailed with the 
third unit of the French-American toll service and served 
as an operator in the U. S. Signal Corps. Her services 
were especially valuable because speaking French as 
fluently as English she was an efficient interpreter be¬ 
tween the American and French armies. 

Theo Fenton, Theta ’09, served as a labratory assist¬ 
ant to a doctor and sailed for France with Base Hospital 
Unit 22. 

Another organization which was privileged to render 
inspiring service to the government in its time of great¬ 
est need was the Young Women’s Christian Association. 
Recognizing its responsibilities in providing conditions 
conducive to women’s best work in special industries 
created during the war, a War Work Council of the Y. W. 
C. A. was formed. Under this branch various forms of 
service were perfected; housing conditions for working 
girls were changed, constructive work in England, France 
and Russia were undertaken; and the cafeteria, which 
the Y. W. C. A. had used before the war, was developed 
in such a manner that their experience was utilized. 

The Y. W. C. A. had had an industrial department for 
many years so the problem of girl workers was not a new 
one. In some of the factories as in the clothing factory 
in Charleston, S. C., women were forced to work in build¬ 
ings not equipped for their comfort. The factory which 
was next door to the navy yard had conditions bettered 
by the commandant working in conjunction with the 
Y. W. C. A. officers in furnishing a recreation house. 
Esther Sleight, Eta ’ll, worked in the Y. W. C. A. in 
Charleston while awaiting her call to France where she 
served as a Y. W. C. A. secretary. 

Following requests from the commandants and the 
Federal Commission on Training Camp activities, host¬ 
ess houses were established forming a social center for 
relatives who visited the men in camp. Lucille Thornton 
Neuman, Eta ’12, assisted Ethel Baldwin Bruce, Eta ’12, 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 


317 


in conducting a hostess house in Hoboken, New Jersey. 
Mrs. Bruce also was engaged in the housing and employ¬ 
ment work through the Y. W. C. A. 

Genevieve Humeston, Omega ’20, gave her entire time 
to war work serving as a Y. W. C. A. Secretary in Battle 
Creek, Michigan. 

Even were space available it would be impossible to 
tell in completeness the work of the women of the Bed 
Cross. There was probably no community in America 
in which some women were not expressing their patriot¬ 
ism by work in this branch. It must suffice to tell of some 
of the more important phases of the work in which Alpha 
Xi Deltas were engaged. 

The nursing program as assumed by the Bed Cross 
was its most extensive undertaking. A large number of 
women were trained in the various phases of the work so 
that very soon the organization was perfected to meet 
the specific demands. One of those who early took work 
in the Bed Cross Training Classes, first in Surgical 
Dressing and later in the Nurses Training Class was 
Anna Wallis, Xi *06. Her active service began with the 
induction of the University of Kentucky men into the 
Army Training Corps followed by the epidemic of in¬ 
fluenza which raged on the campus. Seventy-five men 
were stricken in one day and practically the entire camp 
in the following days. The men were provided for in the 
gymnasium and a dormitory under the care of two 
trained nurses. Miss Wallis volunteered and remained 
on duty for the full two weeks. The work was of an 
emergency character and very strenuous. Mary Kinkead 
Venable, Xi T4, did volunteer work at the same time. 
Although she had not taken the training her services 
were highly commended as was that of her co-worker. 
M. Olive Johnson, Omicron ’10, who at present is the 
National President of Alpha Xi Delta, nursed every day 
and night during the same epidemic in a hospital at San 
Bafael, California. Miss Johnson's knowledge of foreign 
languages was of especial value in foreign quarters. 


318 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Elizabeth Kedrolivansky, Omicron ’08, and Mary Sher¬ 
man, Sigma H4, nursed in a temporary hospital at Oak¬ 
land Civic Auditorium, Oakland, California. 

Genevieve Poland, Iota ’17, served as a nurse at Lo¬ 
gan, West Virginia. Alice Cotton Dolbear, Lambda ’16, 
Marjorie Henry Leach, Lambda ’12, and Josephine 
Hines, Chi ’17, engaged in service after having completed 
the nursing course given by the Red Cross. Mabel Neuse 
Wishard, Beta HO, took the First Aid Training Course 
and a Special Course in Nurses Aid. Ruth Risden 
Storer, Omicron HO, also took a First Aid Course at the 
University of California. 

To the women who served in the canteens must go out 
smiles and hearty cheers from thousands of boys who had 
their spirits brightened in hours of need. With the close 
of the war, that work assumed gigantic proportions as 
the men returned home. The Alliance, Ohio, canteen, 
which operated in the Pennsylvania Station, stands out 
as typical of the Red Cross Canteen service. It was con¬ 
ceived and executed by one of the patronesses of Gamma 
Chapter and operated under her supervision from De¬ 
cember 9, 1918, until June 1, 1919. At that time, Hazel 
Purcell, Gamma H4, was placed in charge and operated 
the canteen until it was discontinued September 1 of 
that year. The service included the equipping of the rest 
room and the organizing of units for service. One can 
only conceive the extent of the actual canteen work by 
regarding certain figures. During the period of activity 
of the Alliance canteen, 134,662 men were served with 
lunch consisting of sandwiches, coffee and cakes and in 
addition supplies, ranging from pocket mirrors to vases 
and watermelons, were furnished. The quantity of food 
handled reads as follows: 8,727 gallons of coffee, 9,286 
weiner sandwiches, 14,575 dozen cookies and doughnuts. 
The work was extensive enough to satisfy every demand 
upon service and may be traced entirely to the work of 
those inspired in the spirit of Alpha Xi Delta. 

Elsie Waddingham Ripley, Nu ’07, served oversea 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 


319 


as a Red Cross canteen worker during hostilities. Ruth 
Stark Behlow, Omicron M3, served in France as a can¬ 
teen worker described in part as follows, “ started out as 
a regular worker dishing out coffee and rolls or chocolate 
and doughnuts, or sewing on chevrons and insignia while 
the fellows said, ‘Do you think that will stick till I get 
home ? ’ ” Her work included service all through France 
and might be recorded in some of the most vivid experi¬ 
ences of Alpha Xi Deltas during the war. 

The Motor Corps of the Red Cross was outfitted with 
chauffeurs in many cases by women. The work was exact¬ 
ing for it called for constant exposure to weather and 
difficult conditions. Lena Baldwin, Eta ’06, and Evelyn 
Evans, Omicron ’21, served in the Red Cross Motor 
Corps, the former being eventually commissioned a 
lieutenant. 

In the interests of Civilian Relief, many Alpha Xis 
gave their services. Anna Gillis Kimble, Alpha ’03, a 
former editor of The Alpha Xi Delta , was one of the first 
to be asisgned to the work. At the outbreak of the war, 
she was designated to take charge of Home Service work 
in Miltonvale, Kansas. She was also awarded the Red 
Cross Service Badge and the United States Treasury 
Medal for service in the Victory and Liberty Loan drives. 
Carrie Spring, Gamma ’14, served as secretary of the 
Civilian Relief Committee at Alliance, Ohio, during the 
war. 

Many women found an opportunity for service as 
supervisors in various phases of Red Cross work. The 
work was varied as it was distinctive and offered almost 
innumerable occasions for work. Clara Staads, Rho ’16, 
was a supervisor in the Surgical Dressings Department 
of the Red Cross. Laila Hall, Lambda ’06, and Nellie 
Kimball Loomis, Lambda, supervised Surgical Dressings 
at Watertown. In White Bear, Minnesota, Alpha Xi 
Deltas were giving their time to the same work. Alice 
Ridder, Upsilon ’20, was a directress of the Red Cross 
Stations and Grace Gilbert, Mu ’20, gave her entire time 


320 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

as a directress in Surgical Dressings. Miss Gilbert also 
served as a directress in St. Paul, Minnesota. Alice Hel- 
son, Mu ’ll, acted as a supervisor of Red Cross activities 
at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church at St. Paul, Minnesota; 
Esther Smith Goldsmith, Rho ’17, and Ruth Caroll 
Neeley, Rho ’15, were Red Cross supervisors; Gladys 
Gleason, Upsilon ’15, completed her period of training 
early in the war and served meritoriously; Irene Mark 
Ennis, Chi ’19, and Ina Haines Taylor, Chi ’14, were 
assigned to regular Red Cross work; Mabel Hartzell, 
Gamma ’05, served on the executive committee of the 
Alliance, Ohio, Red Cross chapter; Mary Emily Kay, 
Gamma ’04, was organizer and secretary of the Alliance 
Chapter, instituted the Naval Auxiliary of the High 
School and spent a very large part of her time inducing 
people to join organizations and interesting them in tak¬ 
ing war orphans. Blanche Keplinger, Gamma ’12, gave 
part of her time as chairman of the knitting committee 
of the Alliance Chapter Red Cross. Aubra Markle 
Spalding, Omicron ’04, was secretary of the Kansas City 
chapter of the Naval Auxiliary of the Red Cross; May 
Anderson, Chi ’17, served as a lieutenant in the linen 
drive conducted under the supervision of the Red Cross 
in Pueblo, Colorado, and for two years gave her time to 
bandage rolling in the Surgical Dressings Department; 
Ruth Sibley Haskell, Lambda ’06, gave half of her time 
to the Red Cross department of the Brookline Equal 
Suffrage Association, assisting in surgical dressing work, 
food conservation and any other work which the Red 
Cross conducted. Daisy Bartlett, Lambda ’03, was secre¬ 
tary of the school chapter of the Junior Membership 
Committee of the Somerville, Mass., Chapter of the Red 
Cross. She also served as secretary of the committee 
and was delegate to the New England Division Conven¬ 
tion of the Red Cross. Anna Wallis, Xi ’06, instructed 
classes in Surgical Dressings twice a week during the 
war period. Bettie Coons Haley, Xi ’12, and Elizabeth 
Wallis, Xi ’07, worked in this branch. Gussanda Counta- 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 


321 


way, Lambda ’04, and Helen Jackson Larrabee, Lambda 
’12, served as monitors in the Surgical Dressings class 
for the Red Cross. Sue Knight, Lambda HI, gave her 
entire time to service in the cause. Helen Elkin, Mu ’20, 
took a special course in Red Cross Training and with 
Marguerite Elkin, Mu ’16, had charge of the Red Cross 
work in Mayville, North Dakota. Other Alpha Xis who 
were active workers in the First Red Cross were: Lucille 
Rayne, Theta ’13; Mary Rayne, Theta ’09; Helen Wur- 
derman, Theta ’15, and Velma Shartle Powell, Omicron 
’08. Mary Walsh, Nu ’16, has the distinction of having 
organized the Seattle, Washington, Girls Red Cross Aux¬ 
iliary composed of fraternity girls. Olive Ryan, Lambda 
’03, spent all of her spare time in Red Cross work at her 
school in Cambridge where several hundred dollars were 
raised among school children. Ruth Stark Behlow, Omi¬ 
cron ’13, previous to her appointment as a canteen worker 
served as captain of a Red Cross team competing for 
honors in the collection of salvage. 

Eliza Curtis Everton, Alpha ’94, one of the National 
Founders of Alpha Xi Delta was largely instrumental in 
the establishment of the Sampson County, North Caro¬ 
lina, Chapter of the Red Cross and from the beginning 
served as its secretary. Mrs. Everton held this office un¬ 
til 1921, when she was forced to sever her affiliation upon 
departure from the state. 

Heloise Hendershot, Gamma ’16, organized Home 
Service in Summit County, Ohio. She is at present exec¬ 
utive secretary for the Red Cross chapter at Akron, 
Ohio, in charge of all the work, which chapter she has 
been with for more than five and one-half years. Among 
her volunteer workers were Rhea Whitman Blythe, ’14, 
and Charlotte Clark Shirk, both of Gamma and Dorothy 
Drake Trumbell of Nu Chapter. The work at Akron, 
Ohio, was entirely unorganized when Miss Hendershot 
took charge. It was one of the most difficult cities in the 
country to handle because of the polyglot citizenship 
but she developed a well organized staff of workers who 


322 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

handled the thousands and thousands of cases. Her work 
was a feature of women’s work in Summit County. 

With those who did Relief Work are listed: Alice 
Murchison, Nu ’09, who conducted a sewing class of 
the Seattle Alumnae for the French orphans; Eulalia 
Moroney, Alpha ’16, who instructed a class in sewing in 
the Galesburg Public Schools; and Helen Hathaway 
White, Omicron ’16, who spent an afternoon every week 
sewing for Italian children who were victims of the war. 

Other workers were: Eva Jurgensohn, Nu ’20, an 
assistant in the Supervisory Department of Physical 
Education at Seattle, Washington, who organized for 
“War Camp Community Service” the first annual Girl’s 
Day picnic since continued by the Seattle Times; Verda 
Sanborn Moon, Rho ’15, and M. Olive Johnson who 
served as instructors in French classes; Bertha Davis, 
Theta ’06, who served in a library in Paris sending books 
to the boys at the front; Marion Reed Valleau, Mu, who 
did Home Service Work and Marguerite Pyel, Iota ’19, 
who was engaged in War Social Service. 

In the early period of the war the production and con¬ 
servation of food was recognized as a supreme military 
consideration. Thus it was that those who aided in this 
work placed themselves among those who served in the 
ranks of the nation. The Women’s Committee of the 
National Council of Defense instigated a nation-wide 
campaign urging elimination of waste in all directions. 
Workers were enlisted through State Food Administra¬ 
tors and their work was as varied as the situation might 
demand. Antoinette Olson, Mu ’15, served as a County 
Supervisor of Food Conservation at Plentywood, Mon¬ 
tana; Clarissa Kuhn Rowland, Theta ’ll, was chairman 
of the Woman’s Food Conservation Committee of Bara- 
boo, Wisconsin; Florence Faulkner, Alpha ’15, served as 
an assistant in war economy cooking in the High School 
at Galesburg, Illinois; two alumnae members from Psi 
Chapter gave food conservation lectures in connection 
with Home Economics work in the public schools and 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 


323 


Florence Coerper Brown, Theta T4, in co-operation with 
the United States Department of Agriculture served as 
an assistant in Plant Pathology in the University of Wis¬ 
consin. 

While the Liberty Loan was not designed as a Wom¬ 
an’s activity originally, women’s inspiring response to 
the first drive forever associated them with this financial 
measure of war work. A Woman’s Liberty Loan Com¬ 
mittee was formed and under its auspices drives were 
made. Mrs. Mary Helson Harmon, Mu ’07, took an active 
part in these drives serving as a Precinct Chairman, 
while Ada Helson Thomas, Mu ’13, served as a Block 
Chairman. 

Other war campaigns and drives called for women 
workers. In surveying Alpha Xi Delta’s enlisted in 
these ranks we find Lura Pelley, Pi ’14, serving as chair¬ 
man of all war campaign work at Mingo Junction, Ohio, 
and Mary Randall Smith, Theta ’97, enrolled as the 
Speaker’s Committee of the Dane County Council of 
Defense. Grace Mansfield, Lambda ’99, established a 
melting pot in Wakefield, Massachusetts, to obtain money 
for worsted for the Wakefield Special Aid, there being no 
branch of the Red Cross there—small and large silver col¬ 
lected at this time netted four hundred dollars. The 
Handcraft Society of which Miss Wakefield was presi¬ 
dent earned two hundred dollars at the same time and 
added this to the fund. 

In other phases of work we find women in many in¬ 
stances taking the places of men employees who then 
were free to enter active service. Bertha Shepard, 
Lambda ’ll, Alice Cotton Dolbear, Lambda ’16, and 
Marion Gardner, Lambda ’97, devoted one day a week 
serving in a Liberty Bread Shop, opened by the Boston 
Branch of the A. C. A. for a period of six weeks. Tufts 
College and Boston University took charge of the shop 
on the same day. 

Among those doing governmental work in Washing¬ 
ton were: Margaret Burke, Sigma ’20, who gave full time 


324 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

as a stenographer in the Department of Markets; Mildred 
Coulter Gilchrist, Sigma ’17, a stenographer; Ruth Jack- 
son Leatherman, Chi ’17, a clerical worker in the Civil 
Service; Margaret Hawley, Alpha Iota, a stenographer 
in the Ordnance Department for nine months; Arlene 
Baugh, Omicron ’ll, who held a War Department secre¬ 
tarial position; Hazel McCuen Powers, Upsilon ’15, and 
Alma Holton Bridgman, Upsilon ’15, who did secretarial 
work; Dorothy Shrodes, Omicron ’19, Madeline Young 
Murray, Omicron, and Eleanor Lux, Omicron ’21, who 
served as Yeomanettes and the government workers, 
Vivian Graves, Mu ’17, Margaret Wark Erskine, Pi ’14, 
and Elizabeth Kochline, Delta ’13. Other government 
workers were: Catherine Oder, Chi ’21, who served as a 
wireless operator in Washington; Helen Suope, Nu ’15, 
who served as a dietitian at Tacoma General Hospital 
and Camp Lewis during the war; Marion Evans, Omicron 
’17, Chief Bacteriologist at Camp Fremont, Base Hos¬ 
pital; Mary Jane Collins McKay, Pi ’16, who spent a 
year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, judging steel; and 
Beatrice Fall, Tau ’17, who gave mental tests to soldiers. 
Laila Anders, Alpha ’17, of Oregon, Illinois, U. S. N. 
R. F. was on duty in the Bureau of Supplies and Ac¬ 
counts. She had charge of the clothing needs of two 
hundred fifty thousand men. 

The Selective Draft also afforded many members of 
the fraternity opportunity for service. At first this 
work was delegated to the legal profession but because of 
the vast numbers to be served and the necessity of im¬ 
mediate classification, other men were called to serve and 
finally the women were pressed into service. For the 
uneducated and foreign element, the filling out of these 
questionnaires was a real task. The answers were to be 
in the handwriting of the registrant but it soon became 
apparent that speed and accuracy were curtailed by such 
orders and in many cases, it was impossible. 

An outstanding worker of the fraternity on the draft 
board was Julia Maude Foster, one of the National 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 325 

Founders. For more than two years, this noble woman 
spent all spare time—evenings, Saturdays, Sundays and 
Holidays—outside of her teaching hours, assisting on 
the Draft Board at St. Paul and Minneapolis, filling out 
questionnaires and making surgical dressings and band¬ 
ages. When not so engaged, she was sewing hospital 
garments, making clothes for the Belgian children or 
scrap books for the tubercular patients in the hospitals. 
Miss Foster says, 

What I learned through the work on the Draft Board was what we 
have all learned during the war and since; the incapacity of such a great 
number of our American boys. The mental tests showed us to be a nation 
of thirteen year olds. So many had little or no education. Many of them 
were of foreign birth or of foreign parentage. Our most patriotic lads 
and also educated ones were the volunteers in most cases. This volunteer 
work saved the government thousands of dollars. 

Helen Willis Lynn, Pi ’17, Alumnae Editor of The Alpha 
Xi Delta says that the filling out of questionnaires was 
“the most fascinating thing I have ever done. One 
got such an intimate glimpse she writes, into life after 
life.” She goes on to say that she “used to come out of 
a day in those stuffy courtrooms that always got to smell 
of foreign cookery, feeling really cleansed because the 
men tried so hard to tell the truth.” Rhea Davis, ’16, 
president of the D. of V. of Alliance, Ohio, and Ethel 
Hively, Mu ’15, both of Gamma Chapter served credit¬ 
ably on the draft board. Similar work was done by 
Bertha Smith, Chi ’16, who served as a clerk on the draft 
board. Without the help of these women and many 
others in Alpha Xi Delta whose real worth, perhaps, will 
never be known, the war for democracy would not so 
soon have been brought to a successful close. 

In Akron were situated the immense rubber plants of 
the Goodyear and Goodrich companies. These firms were 
making observation and dirigible balloons. The minor 
places in the engineering departments were the tracers 
and detailers which positions were held by young men. 


326 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity • 

They were just the age for the army and yet it was very 
essential that their places be filled. The colleges over the 
country offered intensive training for women and girls for 
these and similar positions. And thus the minor work in 
all branches of the aircraft industry was done by women. 
The Allies pooled their information and confidential 
drawings were constantly being sent over to this country. 
This resulted in the rapid growth of the balloon industry. 
Helen Willis Lynn, Pi, served faithfully in the aero¬ 
nautical engineering department of the Goodyear people. 
The work was essential and in recognition thereof she 
received one of the Aircraft Industrial Service Badges. 

Winnafred Corwin Robinson, Theta ’18, was con¬ 
nected with the Federal Children’s Bureau and worked 
under the direction of Miss Julia Lathrop during the war. 
Many children were pressed into service for work of all 
kinds and Miss Lathrop had the work of enforcing the 
Child Labor Law which was passed by the United States 
government to guard children against unscrupulous em¬ 
ployers. This law prohibited children under fourteen 
years of age from working in certain specified industries 
—mostly those carried on indoors; and no child between 
the ages of fourteen and sixteen should be employed for 
more than eight hours a day. Mrs. Robinson had the 
state of North Carolina to supervise and there she ex¬ 
amined all the records of age for children who wished 
to work. It was a big task for birth registration was com¬ 
paratively new and records were hard to find to prove the 
age of the applicants. There was little co-operation from 
employers and parents as many families were greatly in 
need of even the small sums earned by the children while 
fathers and brothers were away fighting. Mrs. Robin¬ 
son found children at work in cotton mills, tobacco fac¬ 
tories, tomato canneries and lace factories. She fought 
many a battle with an irate employer because she objected 
in the name of the Federal law against the employment 
of some small, undersized child who was proved to be 
several years below age. The importance of having given 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 327 

to the children of this nation, nurture and education as a 
war time protection of our last reserves cannot be over¬ 
estimated. 

One of the women whose service was highly commend¬ 
able, was Cora Bollinger Block, one of the founders of 
Alpha Xi Delta. It is commendable not because of ex¬ 
traordinary phases but rather because it was work in 
fields that are far removed from the spectacular evidences 
of war: Her work was confined wholly to efforts in her 
own state, Iowa, and included all of those things that 
have made the woman 4 ‘behind the guns’’ immortal. 
Mrs. Block took up active work with the declaration of 
war in extending the doctrines of conservation and in¬ 
creased production in homes and clubs. She helped in 
Liberty Loan and War Saving Stamp drives, served in 
the Red Cross rooms and helped in war work with the 
women’s clubs. She is the author of several interesting 
accounts of war work including, Making New out of Old 
and The Davenport Woman’s Club. 

The close of the war carried with it not alone the 
cessation of hostilities but also those wearisome months 
of reconstruction while nations prepared themselves for 
a return to peace. The work of reconstruction brought 
with it almost a monotony of weariness, for it was to 
those workers in that field that the maimed and wounded 
soldiers owed their care. The soldiers detained in areas 
of occupation and demobilization centers will always feel 
a warm gratitude for those’ who helped them carry on in 
peace when the stimulus of war was lacking. 

Francis Perkins, Kappa ’15, served as a reconstruc¬ 
tion worker in the devastated areas of France. Ruth 
Cooper, Omicron ’20, was engaged in post-war social 
service work at the government public health hospital at 
Camp Kearney. Hilda Howard, Omicron T5, was sent 
as a relief worker in Riga, Latvia. Ivah Everett Peer¬ 
ing, Nu ’13, had charge of the organized community cen¬ 
ters in Seattle for stenographers and employees in 
government work. 


328 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Hanking with these phases of service was that work, 
not so spectacular perhaps but none the less inspiring, of 
American housewives and mothers. Those Alpha Xi 
Deltas, who as home makers practiced the strictest econo¬ 
my and recommended war-time measures with an ardor 
and efficiency, deserve our unlimited admiration. By 
careful and intelligent planning busy housewives not only 
added to their country’s reserves by economy but also 
found time to give help in outside war work. While in 
most instances this spare time was very small it was 
the summation of these little individual efforts which 
gave American Women a record of National service with¬ 
out parallel. 

While alumnae turned from their work to various 
branches of the service, the undergraduates found time 
to engage in war activities in addition to their college 
work. These girls not only gave all their spare time to 
Red Cross work and solicitation for various drives but 
contributed considerable amounts to the funds solicited 
by organizations engaged in war work. Chapters volun¬ 
teered for definite work and completed that work under 
their ‘regular chapter officers. Some of the chapters 
adopted war orphans and gave aid to stricken persons in 
devastated areas. Others aided in food conservation and 
production or volunteered their services for draft board 
work. 

Perhaps the most singular service of the chapters 
was that of solicitation and investment in organization 
drives and government bonds. The amounts subscribed 
by chapters including Liberty Loans and War Savings 
Stamps were: Alpha, $480.00; Gamma, $105.00; Delta, 
$25.00; Epsilon, $150.00; Zeta, $137.75; Eta, $167.50; 
Theta, $381.50; Iota, $50.00; Lambda, $10.00; Mu, 
$605.00; Nu, $540.00; Omicron, $625.00; Pi, $110.00; 
Rho, $200.00; Sigma, $100.00; Tau, $50.00; Chi, $100.00; 
Psi, $325.00; Omega, $50.00; and Alpha Gamma, $125.00. 
Some of the unrepresented chapters in this list and those 
whose amounts are low contributed as individuals or 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 


329 


through class drives for the Liberty Loans and Relief 
Funds. During drives for the loans and Relief Work 
we find that certain chapters have enviable records of 
amounts solicited and pledged. These chapters were: 
Delta, $289.00; Epsilon, $3,250.00; Zeta, $847.40; Eta, 
$3,425.00; Theta, $2,512.50; Iota, $1,100.00; Lambda, 
$940.00; Omicron, $1,147.00; Pi, $761.50; Rho, $675.00; 
Sigma, $1,685.00; Tau, $956.00; Phi, $112.25; Chi, 
$1,101.75; Psi, $1,200.00; Omega, $1,160.00. 

Every chapter of Alpha Xi Delta met the call of the 
Red Cross by spending much time in active service. 
Eleven of the chapters: Alpha, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, 
Iota, Mu, Nu, Pi, Sigma and Psi were enrolled one hun¬ 
dred per cent in the Red Cross membership drive in 
addition to the regular work. 

A survey of the Red Cross work accomplished by 
chapters reveals a variety of splendid service. In Alpha 
Chapter, Helen Holmes served as president of the Red 
Cross Auxiliary and Bernice Ream, ’18, acted as pub¬ 
licity reporter. Gamma Chapter had four girls who 
received a government first aid certificate: Bertha Hale, 
’21, Myrtelle Baxter, ’22, Dena Harshman, ’20, and Nor¬ 
ma Wintzer, ’18. Martha Harrold, T9, Norma Wintzer, 
T8, Ruth Geiger, Tl, Leah Roderick, T9, Gladys Rymer, 
T9, Margaret Boyd, ’20, Lucille Woods, ’21, Mildred 
Cameron, ’20, and Nina Weltner Morris, ’21, (all of 
Gamma Chapter) received certificates as instructors in 
Surgical Dressings. Eight Gamma girls assisted the 
Red Cross in canteen service and Margaret Boyd, ’20, 
and Ruth Geiger, ’ll, aided in the membership campaign. 
Rhea Hendee, Rho T9, Helen Humpe Gayer, Rho ’18, 
and Jeanne Rankin, Rho, took special Red Cross courses. 
Ethel Roe, Sigma T9, had charge of the Junior Red Cross 
consisting of students in the university high school. 
Lambda Chapter held an enviable record for work in 
knitting. During the school year of 1918 there had been 
made thirty-seven pairs of socks, thirty-six sweaters, two 
pairs of wristlets, ten helmets, two sleeping caps and four 


330 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

mufflers. Doris Wilde, Lambda ’20, and Gertrude 
Starks, Lambda ’20, spent their vacation earning money 
for the Red Cross. Alice Yelland, Omicron ’20, served 
as an assistant in the Red Cross. Upsilon Chapter not 
only worked at the college unit of the Red Cross but in 
addition spent time in the city units’ rooms. Fifteen of 
the Upsilon Chapter girls took part in Red Cross Bene¬ 
fit entertainment and three served as chairman of im¬ 
portant committees. Psi Chapter had one member who 
did inspection work for the Red Cross. The Chapters: 
Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Pi, 
Sigma, Upsilon and Psi devoted one evening a week to 
Red Cross work. Those chapters listing girls who took 
first aid courses are Delta, two; Zeta, three; Eta, nine; 
Theta, eleven; Mu, twelve; Lambda, four; Pi, six; and 
Psi, two. 

Not unlike the alumnae work which followed the food 
conservation and production program outlined by the 
government were the methods adopted by the undergrad¬ 
uates. College communities found ample opportunity to 
practice war-time economy measures. Chapter-houses 
carefully planned their menus—all reporting close ad¬ 
herence to the conservation program. It was only natural 
that social events were eliminated and interests directed 
to harmonize with the seriousness of war. 

The details of the conservation work by the under¬ 
graduates are: Hilda Hooper, Epsilon ’18, and Dorothy 
Mackey, Epsilon ’20, lectured on conservation at Farm¬ 
ers’ Institutes. Ruth Kuhns, Theta ’18, and Ruth Smith, 
Theta ’19, had war gardens. Bertha Newcomb, Lambda, 
spent the summer in Canada and did farm work there. 
Each Chi girl canned six quarts of fruit and took them 
back to school with her in the interest of economy for the 
chapter-house. Mary Hathway, Mu ’21, and Marjory 
Leonard, Alpha Beta, ’20, took a course in food conser¬ 
vation. Five Upsilon girls, Edith Halstead, ’19, Iona 
Irish, T9, Elsie Garvin, ’20, Alice Rider, ’20, and Mildred 
Hooker, ’21, enlisted in a unit of the Women’s Land 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 


331 


Army of America stationed at Brattleboro, Vermont. 
Mildred McCord, Eta, and Dorothy Bryan, Eta T9, took 
special work in food conservation. Chapters enrolling 
members in food conservation classes and work were: 
Alpha, five; Delta, five; Epsilon, four; Theta, three, 
Lambda, one; Mu, two; Nu, six; Omicron, five; Rho, one; 
Tau, ten; Chi, three. 

The services of the undergraduates extended to every 
call made upon American women so that we find work of 
positive value in phases too varied to be classified under 
the general groupings. Martha Harrold, Gamma T9, 
served as chairman of the College Committee of war 
work. Delta Chapter lists a member who took govern¬ 
ment extension work during the summer. Helen Smith, 
Theta, T9, served as chairman of the Social Service Com¬ 
mittee. Marion Hill, Lambda T9, and Grace Kellock, 
Lambda ’21, worked during draft registration on exemp¬ 
tion work. Grace Sherburne, Lambda T9, served as 
office deputy in the office of the U. S. Marshal register¬ 
ing German alien enemies. In Mu Chapter, Marion 
Greenman, T9, Marion Read, *21, Marjory Leonard, ’20, 
Marian Reed Valleau, ex-T8, and Marguerite Edwards, 
’21, did Social Service work. Five Mu girls were members 
of a Y. W. C. A. Discussion Club: Marian Read, ’21, 
Katherine Thorbes, ’22, Marian Greenman, T9, Jean 
Keller, ’22, Lenore Stuart, ’22, and Marguerite Edwards, 
’21. Edith Dampier, Mu T3, aided in Civilian Relief 
work and Dorothy Ryan, Mu ’20, had charge of War 
Savings Stamps in one section of Minneapolis. In Nu 
Chapter, Mildred Thornburg, T9, and Dorothy Myers, 
T8, aided in the Loan Drives by giving four minute 
speeches. Phi lists two girls who were entertainers in 
camps, four girls who worked in Loan Drives and two 
girls who assisted in the registration of college women. 
Chi reports one member who took wireless work. Psi had 
three active members who aided in the Columbus War 
Chest Drive and one girl who served on the Woman’s 
Local Committee of the Liberty Loan. Eileen Kengla, 


332 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

’18, Gertrude Bradley, ’20, Alice Yelland, ’20, and Helen 
Yelland, ’22, members of Omicron Chapter, nursed six 
hour shifts in impromptu hospitals during the influenza 
epidemic. 

The devotion to service of Alpha Xi Delta found ex¬ 
pression in the adoption of children who had become 
orphans of the war. The motive which led the chapters 
and individuals to adopt orphans is closely allied to fra- 
ternalism; certainly it is full worthy of the spirit of 
Alpha Xi Delta. The aid extended is a unification of the 
sympathy of woman for helpless suffering and a deep 
love for fellow humanity. Fourteen war orphans were 
adopted by various units of the fraternity. Taking them 
singly: The Madison, Chicago and St. Paul-Minneapolis 
alumnae chapters each adopted a war orphan early in 
1918 while the San Francisco alumnae supported a French 
orphan during the war and continued the support until 
the spring of 1922. Of the undergraduate chapters, 
Theta adopted three, Mu, Xi, Psi, Eta and Lambda sup¬ 
ported one orphan during the war, Omicron paid the ex¬ 
penses of a Belgian baby for three years and Alpha Delta 
continues the support of a French orphan adopted during 
the war. Individuals who supported war orphans were: 
M. Olive Johnson, Omicron TO, Adrienne Williams, Omi¬ 
cron ’20, and Ruth Smith, Theta T9. The French class 
instructed by Miss Johnson also adopted a little French 
orphan. 

The lessons of the present have the most value when 
regarded for their effect upon the future. Let us turn 
then and review the experiences of Alpha Xi Delta in the 
heroic sacrifices in a time of humanity’s need. We can¬ 
not feel that the long hours of wearisome efforts of those, 
who stood ready to give all, have been in vain. Rather 
must we feel that the examples of those who served have 
symbolized all that we hold dear in the sacred bonds of 
Alpha Xi Delta. In these efforts of service have come a 
re-casting of our vision for the future. 

The years of peace have brought growth to Alpha Xi 


Alpha Xi Delta in the World War 333 

Delta, not unparalleled, but steady, secure and well- 
administered, well within the confines of our power to 
give to each unit the full tenor of the meaning of our 
bond. But the years of even development have a ten¬ 
dency to follow the dictates of the present for there is 
too often that sense of security, a feeling of well-being. 
There is a need for revolutions with a re-casting of 
policies and reactionism, and in it all, new visions are 
formed and we stand not alone upon the present, but 
with a vision that faces squarely into the future. Ad¬ 
vance is made only with constant changing to greater 
stimulations. 

The spirit of the fraternity does not change in the 
common place trials of peace. We can feel that the very 
spirit of the greater Alpha Xi Delta is shown in the man¬ 
ner in which those individuals rose and offered their 
service, offered all they had to give, not for hope of gain 
or reward, but rather rising above all interests in self by 
giving themselves to service and sacrifice. 

It is a tremendous responsibility left us as those who 
are to carry on the ideal of our fraternity. It is a future 
for which we are unprepared, that rises ever before us. 
For us, this work must not have been spent in vain, 
rather must we let that service record reflect the Alpha 
Xi Delta of the past and with the focus of the rays, cast 
ourselves in the spirit of a wider vision of the future. 
Our fraternity should have a deeper meaning for all 
time. Not one of us can read of the services in the World 
War without realizing a sense of unworthiness. And yet 
only through that realization will we be able to do those 
things which ought to be done to make Alpha Xi Delta 
all that it might be. 

The fraternity has proven itself full worthy of exist¬ 
ence in a supreme moment and will continue in an ever- 
changing social life to merit its worth. Carrying on in 
peace will be more difficult perhaps than in moments of 
stress but the reward will be greater. Let us feel that 
the dictates of a heritage rich in experience will guide 


334 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

us in the demands of the future so that Alpha Xi Delta 
will ever meet the fondest wish of the most idealistic of 
us. We would propose a silent toast to Alpha Xi Delta’s 
achievement in war, an achievement that rests on the ex¬ 
periences of the past, and with a full security augurs well 
for all futurity. May the record inspire and conjure 
those Alpha Xi Deltas of the future to ever prove worthy. 


CHAPTER XIX 


NATIONAL CUSTOMS 

A LTHOUGH the chapters of Alpha Xi Delta are 
distant one from another, the hearts of the mem¬ 
bers are brought close to each other through 
mutual allegiance to the same ideals. It is only natural 
that during the years of the fraternity’s life customs have 
arisen which are observed by all chapters alike. The 
seal of convention approval has been placed upon some 
of these. Others, never thus recognized, are observed 
because they have won their way into the hearts of the 
girls. 

The fraternity colors are worn traditionally beneath 
badge or pledge pin by every member and pledged mem¬ 
ber of a chapter in honor of new pledges. After initia¬ 
tion the colors are again donned as symbolic of the joy 
of the chapter over its new members. 

Early in the local life of Alpha Chapter black ribbons 
were worn beneath the quill for ten days in mourning 
over the death of one of their number. This custom was 
adopted by the national organization, but with the growth 
of the fraternity it slowly ceased to be observed. The 
present usage was fixed by the Sixth Convention, 1911, 
which provided that the> badge of mourning be worn for 
three days and be restricted to the chapter within whose 
membership the death has occurred. At the same time 
the Grand Chapter expressed its approval of the burial 
of the badge with the girl to whom it had belonged. 
Worn over the heart in death as in life, it symbolizes 
those eternal truths, adherence to which through the liv¬ 
ing years shall have done much toward the preparation 
for after-death. Exception to the burial of the badge was 
made when a wish had been expressed that it might be 


336 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

given to some other member of Alpha Xi Delta. The 
Eleventh Convention, 1922, again declared that burial of 
the badge was not absolutely required. At the last chap¬ 
ter meeting of the college year every collegiate chapter 
reads the Memorial Service, recalling again those mem¬ 
bers who can no longer return in person. This service 
was adopted by the Seventh Convention, 1913, and its use 
at this stated time made obligatory. 

No jewelry bearing the fraternity letters or emblems 
is ever given to one not a member. The same sentiment 
which enacted this ruling expressed itself again when 
ownership of the official banner was similarly limited. 
The prohibitions were interpreted as including pledges. 
In 1920 the custom, which exists in a few colleges, of 
chaining together the quill and a man’s fraternity badge 
as the sign of betrothal was forbidden. This ruling was 
sustained two years later by the Eleventh Convention. 
Our symbols are sacred to us, and that sanctity is best 
preserved by their careful and restricted use. 

At the time of the Fourth Convention, 1907, some of 
the delegates brought with them college papers, clever 
dance programs and original favors as better showing 
the life of their chapters than unaided speech could do. 
So interesting to every one were these impromptu dis¬ 
plays that the chapters were asked to prepare an exhibit 
for each convention which should aid the others in un¬ 
derstanding the life and accomplishments of both chapter 
and the college in which it exists. So developed one of 
the most interesting and valuable features of our con¬ 
ventions. The interchange of ideas is rapid when aided 
by the enticing pages of a stunt book and visualization is 
easy and correct when kodak pictures assist the spoken 
word and printed page. 

It was the most earnest wish of our founders that the 
quill should never prove a bar to friendships with those 
who do not wear it. One of their fixed purposes in organ¬ 
izing Alpha Xi Delta was the hope that through combined 
strength they would be able to make college pleasanter 


National Customs 


337 


for every one. This tradition of friendliness toward all 
others, Greek and non-Greek alike, is most highly valued 
as part of the rich inheritance they left to the fraternity 
they founded. In 1907, the Fourth Convention, actuated 
by the same ideals, provided that each chapter shall hold 
open house once in a semester to all who care to partake 
of their hospitality. 

From making things pleasanter for those about us in 
our college life, it is but a short step to the desire to aid 
in making our part of the world a pleasanter place in 
which to be. The Seventh Convention, 1913, adopted a 
resolution which provided that each chapter become 
actively interested in some social service or philanthropic 
work. The nature of the work was left entirely to the 
choice of the individual chapters and their decisions 
showed a wide variety. 

The sending of baskets of food to poor families at 
Christmas time was selected by a number of chapters. 
The desire grew for a more personal contact than that 
afforded in an interview with a worker from some charity 
organization who had been invited to suggest names and 
cases. From being given occasionally by some chapter, 
a Christmas party for unfortunate youngsters has grown 
in favor with the girls until it is practically a national 
custom. A number of children, an afternoon of merry 
games and unstinted sweets, a towering tree with gifts 
and candle laden branches prepare for the last gay hour 
when eager hands reach out for gifts and thrust them into 
shabby pockets where they may be touched from minute 
to minute all the way home. 

All chapters observe Founders 1 Day by reading the 
service written especially for that occasion. This service 
was officially adopted by the Seventh Convention, 1913, at 
which time it was first celebrated. 

The announcement of an engagement brings with it 
a thrill of romance. Especially is this true if the love 
pledge has only been suspected. Nu Chapter originated 
an interesting custom which spread from chapter to chap- 


338 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


ter as the girls learned of it. On Founders* Day at the 
close of the banquet, just before the toasts begin, every 
engaged girl present must rise from her chair and run 
quickly once around the table. Eager speculation heralds 
this part of the program and she who sits guiltily when 
she should be running is held false to her love. 


CHAPTER XX 


THE GIFTS OF ALPHA XI DELTA 

Note: The material for this chapter was derived from a survey made of both 
the college and alumnae chapters of Alpha Xi Delta in which each member was 
asked to furnish an unsigned statement of the fraternity’s best gift to her. 

F ROM the moment of her birth until she goes away 
to college her home has furnished a fixed and defi¬ 
nite background to the individual girl. For the 
most part she has been accepted unquestioningly as 
among the things that naturally are. Yet because of her 
home background, of her family standing, its prestige 
and its traditions, she has occupied a recognized niche in 
the neighborhood community life. From this sheltering 
and protecting environment her personality has gradu¬ 
ally projected itself throughout her early years. She has 
always been certain of that tremendous aid to personal 
development and expansion and self-esteem, the interest 
of one’s associates in one’s own interests. 

With matriculation in college this surety of place is 
utterly destroyed. She has been accustomed to the well 
ordered routine of a sheltered homelife and established 
and friendly contacts with others which have endured 
already for years. Now she plunges into the unknown. 
Strangers replace friends. Unknown standards and 
traditions instead of familiar precedents surround her. 
Her individuality is submerged in the mass and no longer 
feels itself a recognized, distinctive entity. 

It is the forming of new contacts and new friendships, 
the learning of and the adaption of oneself to the estab¬ 
lished customs of the institution which is the readjust¬ 
ment attendent upon college entrance. With the orienta¬ 
tion of the new life, the individual personality builds 
itself a new background and a new perspective. When 
this rebuilding has been successfully accomplished the 


340 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

consideration of environment ceases to occupy her mind 
and once more it is among the taken-for-granted-things 
of life. Until then the individual personality can neither 
be truly at ease nor free to concentrate upon new subjects 
of thought and education, introduced by new and un¬ 
familiar methods of instruction. 

Such self-accommodation is not readily accomplished 
in a few weeks by even those most adjustable. The degree 
of completeness with which this readjustment is made 
largely determines the success of the individual in her 
college life. At this difficult time, Alpha Xi Delta offers 
its first great gift to its members. Sympathetic friends 
lessen the burden of homesickness. Helpful suggestions 
teach the strange ways of the new life. Careful direc¬ 
tion to unfamilar destinations spare missed classes. The 
merger and consolidation of the individual into the com¬ 
posite life of the college is far easier of accomplishment 
with the aid of fraternal sisters. Fraternalism offers an 
established background to the transitory personality. 
The bewildered feeling of belonging nowhere is replaced 
by the happy knowledge of belonging to a definite organi¬ 
zation in which the personal relationship is the most im¬ 
portant and most helpful. 

Friendships as formed within the circle of Alpha Xi 
Delta approach most nearly to those of the home circle. 
The attitude of the older girls is that of older sisters to 
younger ones. Joys are shared as readily as sorrows. 
The common interests are bound so closely together that 
divergent viewpoints are merged into sympathetic under¬ 
standing. Companionship in the serious endeavors of 
college life and happy sharing of its fun form the founda¬ 
tion upon which is built day by day lasting friendships 
for all the years to come. 

With membership in Alpha Xi Delta there becomes 
inculcated into the life of each wearer of its pledge pin 
the fraternal conception of what is due it from its mem¬ 
bers. Our founders held high scholarship as an element 


The Gifts of Alpha Xi Delta 


341 


most important in college life. In founding Alpha Xi 
Delta they sought to combine in it all of value in the 
older organizations and to exclude recognized weaknesses. 
They were determined that its members should never 
lose sight of the basic reason for the years of college at¬ 
tendance. They stressed so strongly the requirement for 
thorough scholarship that it has become interwoven in 
the very fabric of the fraternity’s life. Its urge to 
scholarship is felt by all who take its vows. Many a 
girl who would have been content as a mediocre student, 
had she considered herself alone, has yielded to the ideal 
of the fraternity and accomplished far more in her 
studies than a mere passing mark. The idealism of 
Alpha Xi Delta holds ever before its members the need 
for doing well each daily task in life, and the faithful 
performance of every duty. It has incorporated studi¬ 
ous habits in many a girl who otherwise would have been 
a laggard at books while in college and mentally inefficient 
in after life. Thus Alpha Xi Delta approaches its ideals 
of an educated American womanhood. 

In the average unorganized group of friends there is 
a marked tendency for all members of the group to ap¬ 
proximate one specific type of individual, with the same 
tastes, the same interests and with practically identical 
outlooks upon life. In contrast, each chapter of Alpha 
Xi Delta includes girls of many divergent and even 
antagonistic types. Partially this is due to the fact that 
a chapter includes a larger number of girls than would 
an informal group of friends. It is also effected by the 
deliberate and praiseworthy effort to include within its 
membership girls who are interested in every phase of 
college life and activity. The close association with so 
many divergent viewpoints and spheres of activity, neces¬ 
sitated by chapter life, is one of the most priceless gifts 
of the fraternity. 

Left to ourselves we seek our replicas and never learn 
or appreciate the viewpoint of others. Daily association 
brings with it intimate knowledge of how the other person 


342 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

thinks and feels. Sympathetic knowledge of another’s 
way of looking at things is an approach to a world wide 
sympathy. The art of seeing good in everyone is the re¬ 
membrance of the commandment of that great Teacher 
who said, “Judge not less ye be judged.” The art of 
getting along with people must be based upon under¬ 
standing and a willingness to see through another’s eyes. 
This is the supreme preparation for life, the best happi¬ 
ness insurance which one can have. It is the gift of 
Alpha Xi Delta to its members. 

The success of our civilization and the stability of our 
government is highly dependent upon the discharge by 
each individual of his or her responsibility to humanity. 
This sense of duty toward the larger issues of life can 
only be developed and perfected by gradual growth 
through the assumption of responsibility in lesser and 
more immediate activities. Alpha Xi Delta insists that 
each of its college members actively participate in at 
least two essential and worthy undergraduate organiza¬ 
tions. Thus are its members guarded from thoughtlessly 
becoming lost in the fascination of books or the whirl of 
social life. Thus are they aided in maintaining a pro¬ 
portionate and perfect balance among the opposing in¬ 
terests of their college lives and learn the invaluable les¬ 
son of performing promptly and efficiently the duties 
which are dependent upon them for fulfillment. Thus does 
Alpha Xi Delta lend its influence to aid in maintaining 
and developing the life of the universities where its chap¬ 
ters are located. 

Life in the college chapter is a preparatory period for 
the larger life in the world chapter which awaits after 
college years. The appreciative consideration for others, 
the sacrifice of one’s desires for the good of another, the 
sharing of joys and sorrows which are not one’s own, 
the charitable giving of self when friendship is given, all 
perfect and complete the building of character. 

As membership in Alpha Xi Delta does not terminate 
with college days, so its influence continues throughout 


The Gifts of Alpha Xi Delta 


343 


the years. Its first gift to the freshman was that of 
friends among strangers. Again and again it repeats 
that gift to its alumnae. Where there are two wearers of 
the quill, there are two friends. A stranger who comes 
to an alumnae chapter, unknown and unacquainted with 
its members, finds a circle of friends, at once assumes her 
rightful place among them, held close to them by fra¬ 
ternal ties. Old friends among strangers—that is the 
lasting gift of Alpha Xi Delta. 


CHAPTER XXI 


NATIONAL OFFICERS 
April 17, 1902—May 9, 1903. 

Grand President.Cora Bollinger-Block, Alpha. 

Grand Vice-president .... Alice Bartlett-Bruner, Alpha. 

Grand Secretary.Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha. 

Grand Treasurer.Edith Miller-Fletcher, Alpha. 

Grand Historian.Anna Gillis-Kimble, Alpha. 

Grand Marshal.Edna Epperson-Brinkman, Alpha. 

Grand Chaplain.Jennie Marriott-Buchanan, Alpha. 

May 9, 1903—May 14, 1904. 

Grand President .... Edna Epperson-Brinkman, Alpha. 
Grand Vice-president ... Mary Salmon-Bolton, Gamma. 

Grand Secretary.Axie Lute-Mitchell, Beta. 

Grand Treasurer ... Maude Andrew-Van Camp, Alpha. 

Grand Historian.Mabel Hartzell, Gamma. 

Grand Marshal.Louise Singer-Maiken, Beta. 

Grand Chaplain.Mary Emily Kay, Gamma. 

Editor-in-Chief. Anna Gillis-Kimble, Alpha. 

Associate Editor.Mary Emily Kay, Gamma. 

Business Manager.Axie Lute-Mitchell, Beta. 

May 14, 1904—June 23, 1905. 

Grand President.Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha. 

Grand Vice-president ... Margaret Curtis-Pierce, Delta, 

Grand Secretary.Mary Emily Kay, Gamma. 

Grand Treasurer.Mary Power-Holliday, Beta. 

Grand Historian .... Mabel Bracher-Cunningham, Zeta. 

Grand Editor.Mary Salmon-Bolton, Gamma. 

Associate Editor.Mildred Tucker, Gamma. 

Business Manager.Mabel Hartzell, Gamma. 





















National Officers 


345 


June 23, 1905—October 31, 1907. 


Grand President.Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha. 

Grand Vice-president .. Lorena Grange-Sweet, Epsilon. 

Grand Secretary.Mary Emily Kay, Gamma. 

Grand Treasurer.Mary Power-Holliday, Beta. 

Grand Historian.Lorena Grange-Sweet, Epsilon. 

Grand Editor.Bertha Cleveland-Patterson, Eta. 

Associate Editor.Gertrude Wright-Gilmour, Eta. 

Business Manager.Dora Lockwood, Eta. 

Assistant Business Manager.Martha Hutchings- 

McKean, Eta. 

October 31, 1907—October 30, 1909. 

Grand President.Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha. 

Grand Vice-president.. Bertha Cleveland-Patterson, Eta. 

Grand Secretary.Mary Emily Kay, Gamma. 

Grand Treasurer.Ellen Ball, Beta. 

Grand Historian.Clara Salmer-Cason, Epsilon. 

Grand Editor.Martha Hutchings-McKean, Eta. 

Associate Editor.Gertrude Wright-Gilmour, Eta. 

Business Manager.Dora Lockwood, Eta. 

Assistant-Business Manager.Edith Lawrence, Eta. 

October 30, 1909—October 29, 1911. 

Grand President.Mary Emily Kay, Gamma. 

Grand Vice-president .... Gussanda Countway, Lambda. 

Grand Secretary.Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta. 

Grand Treasurer.Ellen Ball, Beta. 

Grand Editor.Ruth Sibley-Haskell, Lambda. 

Associate Editor.Mary Meek Atkeson, Iota. 

Business Manager_Katherine Keith-Stamp, Gamma. 

October 29, 1911—November 1, 1913. 

Grand President.Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta. 

Grand Vice-president.Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta. 

Grand Secretary.Ruth Sibley-Haskell, Lambda. 


























346 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


Grand Treasurer.Ellen Ball, Beta. 

Grand Editor . Polly Fenton, Theta. 

Associate Editor.Mary Meek Atkeson, Iota. 

Alumnae Editor.Martha Fargo, Kappa. 

Business Manager.Mary Rayne, Theta. 

Extension Secretary .... Gussanda Countway, Lambda. 

November 1, 1913—July 23, 1915. 

Grand President.Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta. 

Grand Vice-president .... Ruth Sibley-Haskell, Lambda. 

Grand Secretary . Rosalie Retz-Bell, Kappa. 

Grand Treasurer.Ellen Ball, Beta. 

Grand Inspector.Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta. 

Grand Editor.Polly Fenton, Theta. 

Associate Editor.Edith Bradford, Lambda. 

Alumnae Editor.Martha Fargo, Kappa. 

Business Manager.Mary Rayne, Theta. 

Extension Secretary. .Alice Cummings-Heustis, Lambda. 

July 23,1915—July 3,1918. 

Grand President.Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta. 

Grand Vice-president .... Ruth Sibley-Haskell, Lambda. 

Grand Secretary.Bess Williamson, Alpha. 

Grand Treasurer.Ellen Ball, Beta. 

Grand Inspector.Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta. 

Grand Editor.Polly Fenton, Theta. 

Associate Editor.Edith Bradford, Lambda. 

Alumnae Editor.Martha Fargo, Kappa. 

Business Manager.Mary Rayne, Theta. 

Extension Secretary.Bertha Shepard, Lambda. 

July 3, 1918—June 30, 1920 

National President.Polly Fenton, Theta. 

National Vice-president.Bess Williamson, Alpha. 

National Executive Secretary. .Anna Miller Knote, Zeta. 

National Treasurer.Ellen Ball, Beta. 

National Inspector. Audrey Duffey-Blagbrough, Lambda. 



























National Officers 


347 


Associate Editor .... Hazel Macy-MacNamee, Lambda. 

Alumnae Editor.Grace Spencer-Phillips, Kappa. 

Business Manager.Hazel Mercer, Delta. 

Extension Secretary .... Lucile Thornton-Newman, Eta. 


June 30, 1920—July 1, 1922. 


National President.Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta. 

National Vice-president .... M. Olive Johnson, Omicron. 
National Executive Secretary.Ethel Baldwin-Bruce, Eta. 

National Treasurer.Lulu Bunge, Theta. 

National Inspector.Myrtle Jones-Stevens, Mu. 

Associate Editor.Ethel Hoskins-Armstrong, Mu. 

Alumnae Editor.Irene Baine-Mix, Mu. 

Business Manager.Hazel Mercer, Delta. 

Extension Secretary.Ethel Winterfield, Sigma. 

Province Presidents 

I .Lucile Thornton-Newman, Eta. 

II .Helen Willis-Lynn, Pi. 

III .Leda Jones-Atkins, Xi. 

IV .Myrtle Coker-Combe, Kappa. 

V .Madeline Woodworth-Gladish, Nu. 

VI .Kathleen Murchison, Nu. 


July 1,1922-1924. 

National President.M. Olive Johnson, Omicron. 

National Vice-president .... Myrtle Jones-Stevens, Mu. 
National Executive Secretary. .Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta. 

National Treasurer.Lulu Bunge, Theta. 

National Visitor.Myrtle Coker-Combe, Kappa. 

Associate Editor.Hazel Mercer, Delta. 

Alumnae Editor.Helen Willis-Lynn, Pi. 

Business Manager. Calla Andrus, Theta. 

Extension Secretary.Clara Hankey-Koenig, Mu. 

PBOVINCE I 

President. Lucille Thornton-Newman, Eta. 

Vice-president_Winnafred Corwin-Bobinson, Theta. 


























348 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


PROVINCE II 

President.Wilhelmina Slaymaker-Kinsey, Psi. 

Vice-president.Theda Shaw-Holen, Alpha Epsilon. 

PROVINCE III 

President . Lida Jones-Atkins, Xi. 

Vice-president.... Ethlyn Mitchell-Arnold, Alpha Alpha. 

PROVINCE IV 

President.Iva Baker Chase, Sigma. 

Vice-president . Frances Crane, Beta. 

PROVINCE V 

President.. Madeline Woodworth-Gladish, Nn. 

Vice-president.Dixie Young, Alpha Zeta. 

PROVINCE VI 

President.Kathleen Murchison, Nu. 

Vice-president.Helen Wurdeman, Theta. 

ANNA GILLIS-KIMBLE 

Anna Gillis spent her happy childhood on a farm 
which was four miles from Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. She was 


an only daughter, having three brothers and numerous 
boy cousins with whom to play. 

Her elementary schooling was received in a proverbial 
“little red school house.” Some of her pre-college work 
was done in the preparatory department of Iowa Wes¬ 
leyan College. This meant driving to and from the 
college each day. When the mud of roads then unim¬ 
proved was too deep to permit driving, it meant a dreary 
horse back ride, hard alike on horse and girl. 

In 1898 Miss Gillis entered Lombard College, com¬ 
pleting her last year of preparatory work there. While 
in Lombard she won distinction in the work of the bio¬ 
logical and English departments. During her senior 











National Officers 


349 


year, 1902-03, she edited The Lombard Review . She was 
also an assistant instructor in English that year and the 
year immediately following. 

Anna Gillis-Kimble served 
as chairman of the committee 
which drafted the national 
constitution adopted by Al¬ 
pha Chapter on April 17, 

1902. The first Convention 
elected her editor-in-chief of 
the fraternity journal, which 
then existed only in a conven¬ 
tion ruling. Under her direc¬ 
tion the first volume was pub¬ 
lished, and the gigantic task 
of establishing a new maga¬ 
zine splendidly accomplished. 

Within a few days of her 
graduation from Lombard College, Anna Gillis married 
Dr. Thaddeus C. Kimble, then a professor in the biologi¬ 
cal department of Lombard. 

In 1923 Mrs. Kimble wrote: 

We have two daughters; Katherine, eighteen, fair and petite, just out 
of high school; Margie, tall and dark haired, a junior in high school. 

For the past thirteen years our home has been in sunny Kansas. We 
love it and expect to stay for there are no bluer skies nor finer people. 
Health, home, usefulness and a moderate prosperity are here for us. 
Cyclones have never troubled us and here may we abide. 

EDNA EPPERSON-BRINKMAN 

The girlhood years of Edna Epperson-Brinkman were 
spent in Galesburg, Illinois. She entered Lombard Col¬ 
lege in the fall of 1894 and was initiated into Alpha Xi 
Delta early in 1895. While in college she worked ear¬ 
nestly for the advancement of the fraternity and served 
a term as its president. 

Mrs. Brinkman was not able to pursue an unbroken 
college course. She was graduated from Lombard in 



Anna Gillis-Kimble, Alpha 



350 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

1902 and so was a member of the college chapter at the 
time of the national movement. She was elected as Alpha 
Xi Delta’s first Grand Marshal in 1902 and as Grand 
President by the First Convention, 1903. 

The influence of Edna Epperson-Brinkman was an 
important one in the transition from local to national 


Edna Epperson Brinkman, Alpha 

life. Among her contributions to the fraternity’s growth 
was assistance in the installation of Beta, Gamma, Ep¬ 
silon and Zeta Chapters. 

Mrs. Brinkman resides at Hinsdale, Illinois, one of 
the beautiful suburbs of Chicago, and is a member of the 
Chicago Alumnae Chapter. 


National Officers 


351 


ELLA BOSTON-LEIB 

The debt of Alpha Xi Delta to Ella Boston-Leib will 
forever remain a great one. Three times president of 
Alpha Chapter, she was among its members at the time 
of the national movement. 

In 1902 Ella Boston-Leib was elected Alpha Xi Del¬ 
ta's first Grand Secretary. In 1904 she became its third 



Ella Boston-Leib, Alpha 


Grand President, an office in which she continued for five 
years. During that period the fraternity grew from one 
of five chapters to one of fifteen. 

Mrs. Leib looked far ahead in her plans for Alpha Xi 
Delta. Her presidential address to the Fifth Convention, 
1909, foreshadows all that the fraternity has since accom¬ 
plished in constructive measures. 



352 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


At the time of her withdrawal from active leadership 
an ‘‘Appreciation,’’ written by Lillian Estary-Askrn, 
Nu, was published in the journal for February, 1910. In 
part it read: 

Hers has been a unique place in Alpha Xi Delta—one of the earliest 
members of Mother Alpha Chapter, President of Alpha Chapter, Grand 
Secretary and for five years Grand President, now a member of the govern¬ 
ing body—her active service for Alpha Xi Delta is nearing two decades. 
Much of the history of Alpha Xi Delta must center around Ella Boston- 
Leib. 

She has seen the entire transition from a local to a national body. 
Always her voice has been ready to counsel and advise. "When in 1904 
shet took the grand presidency, she had weighty problems to solve. Alpha 
Xi Delta’s fullest usefulness could not be obtained by five chapters and 
expansion there must be, but expansion of a kind that should mean more 
than mere members and should bring glory to Alpha Xi. Hers was the 
hand that guided Alpha’s growth from five to its present fifteen chapters. 
Others might bring forth resolutions and motions, but hers the hand to 
put them into action. 

Hers was the eye to scan each new chapter and start it on its forward 
path. Hers was the hand to install many chapters and give their members 
the first sisterly hand clasp, showing them Alpha’s ideal sister. Hers was 
the task of taking time and strength from an already busy life to give 
to us in a labor of love. 


ELLEN BALL 



Ellen Ball, Beta 


The installation of Beta 
Chapter took place on June 9, 
1902, at the home of Ellen Ball. 

On that day the hostess, 
with her fraternity sisters, be¬ 
came an Alpha Xi Delta. In 
1907 the Fourth Convention 
elected Ellen Ball as its national 
treasurer. So efficiently did she 
perform this important part of 
the fraternity’s work that for 
thirteen years she continued in 
the office. It was then that the 
fraternity reluctantly assented 
to her refusal to again accept it. 


Natio'iial Officers 


353 


In addition to her multiple duties for Alpha Xi Delta 
Miss Ball has been an active member of P. E. 0., shar¬ 
ing the responsibility of its national work for many years. 

Miss Ball now lives in Seattle, Washington, and is a 
member of the Seattle Alumnae Chapter. 

MARY EMILY KAY 

Mary Emily Kay is largely a product of Alliance, 
Ohio, having been born, reared and partly educated there. 
Her entire experience as a high school teacher has been 
in the public schools of that city. She attended Mt. Union 
College as a preparatory and undergraduate student but 
later transferred to the University of Washington where 
she received her A.B. degree in 1908. Her happiest 
recollections of Seattle are connected with Nu Chapter 
whose members received her with true Alpha Xi Delta 
cordiality. Since 1908 she has done some graduate work 
at the universities of Washington, Wisconsin and 
Columbia. 

Her life, usually uneventful, has been punctuated with 
an occasional trip to Europe, the crowning one taking 
place in 1921 when the representatives of ten Alpha Xi 
Delta chapters “sailed the seas over” with her. 

Mary Emily Kay’s national work for the fraternity 
began with its first convention, May 9, 1903. She served 
it for four years as Grand Secretary and in 1909 was 
elected Grand President. During her term of office Pi 
Chapter was installed. As chairman of the sinking fund 
section of the Gamma House Committee she continues 
to keep in touch with the fraternity, whose growth and 
progress in the years since she left college are ever a 
great source of pride to her. 

RUTH SIBLEY-HASKELL 

Ruth Sibley-Haskell was initiated into Alpha Xi Delta 
during the installation of Lambda Chapter on March 8, 
1907. She had received her A.B. degree from Tufts Col- 



Mary Emily Kay, Gamma 







National Officers 


355 


lege in 1906 and took a one-year graduate course' in 
library science in 1906-7. Later she was actively en¬ 
gaged in library work in the Wellesley Art Department 
and in the Cambridge Public 
Library. 

Mrs. Haskell gave nine years 
of splendid service to Alpha Xi 
Delta, holding in succession the 
offices of Grand Editor, Grand 
Secretary and Grand Vice-presi¬ 
dent. Her clear insight into vex¬ 
ing problems and her unusual 
constructive ability were invalu¬ 
able to the fraternity. 

Alpha Xi Delta is indebted to 
her husband, Mr. Harold E. 

Haskell, an eminent attorney. 

Mr. Haskell was helpful when¬ 
ever he could be of service in 
legal problems. 

Ruth Sibley-Haskell devoted 
time and strength eagerly to the things which interested 
her. The innate love of people which made her so loved 
in turn as a fraternity officer, also made her an earnest 
worker in the cause of woman suffrage and an untiring 
Red Cross worker during the World War. Mrs. Has¬ 
kell is now a member of the Boston Alumnas Chapter. 

LENA GRANDIN BALDWIN 

Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta, was graduated from 
Syracuse University in 1906, cum laude. While a mem¬ 
ber of the college chapter ’she served as its president. 
Her national work began in 1909 when she was elected 
Grand Secretary by the Fifth Convention. She served as 
Grand President for seven years, 1911-18. For two 
years during that period, 1915-17, she was also chairman 
of the National Panhellenic Congress, presiding at its 




Lena Grandin Baldwin, Eta 

















National Officers 357 

fifteenth congress which met in Chicago, October 24-27, 
1917. 

During Miss Baldwin’s presidency ten chapters were 
installed: Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega, 
Alpha Alpha, Alpha Beta and Alpha Gamma. 

Miss Baldwin’s club memberships include: American 
Association of University Women; Syracuse University 
Alumni Association; Daughters of the American Revo¬ 
lution; National Arts Club, New York City; Thursday 
Morning Musicals; Elmira Country Club. 

£#r: ; I :a_. 

POLLY FENTON 

On the first anniversary of its installation, Theta 
Chapter initiated Polly Fenton and Mary Rayne, there¬ 
by giving two national officers to Alpha Xi Delta. 

Polly Fenton had been born and reared in Wisconsin, 
not far from Madison. In 1906 she was graduated from 
the University of Wisconsin with the degree A.B. Three 
years later she was also graduated from the Wisconsin 
Library School. Her professional work has been done in 
connection with the Cincinnati Public Library, the Mil¬ 
waukee Public Library and the California State Library 
at Sacramento, California. Miss Fenton taught in. the 
Chautauqua Summer School for librarians at Chau¬ 
tauqua, N. Y., in 1919-20 and 1920-21. She is now, 1923, 
an instructor in the library school of the New York Public 
Library. 

For seven years, 1911-18, Miss Fenton served as 
editor of The Alpha Xi Delta and for twd years, 1918-20, 
as president of the fraternity. During her term as presi¬ 
dent two chapters, Alpha Delta and Alpha Epsilon, were 
installed. 


MARY RAYNE 

Mary Rayne was initiated into Alpha Xi Delta by 
Theta Chapter in January, 1906. She was graduated 
from the University of Wisconsin with an A.B. degree in 




Polly Fenton, Theta 


















National Officers 


359 



1909. For seven years, 1911-18, she served as business 
manager of The Alxiha Xi Delta, and succeeded in making 
the journal more nearly self-supporting than it had been 
until that time. At present, 

1923, Miss Rayne is the na¬ 
tional librarian for Alpha Xi 
Delta. 

For some years after Theta 
Chapter built its home in 1910, 

Miss Rayne was president of 
its building association and 
gave much time to the duties of 
that office. 

Since her mother’s death in 
1914 she has been the home¬ 
maker for her father, sister 
and brother. Each summer 
the family spends the hot 
months in a cool and charming Mary Rayne > Theta 
cottage on Lake Monona which 

holds for them the happy memories of seventeen years. 

Traveling has been one of the great sources of pleas¬ 
ure in Mary Rayne ’s life. The nooks and corners of the 
United States which are off the beaten trail have inter¬ 
ested her and been visited by her. 

Since her home is in Madison she keeps in intimate 
touch with Theta Chapter and is a member of the Madi¬ 
son Alumnae Chapter. 


BESS WILLIAMSON 

Bess Williamson was a Galesburg, Illinois, girl. She 
received her education in its local schools and was grad¬ 
uated from Lombard College in 1909. All during her 
college life she was a faithful and loyal worker for Alpha 
Xi Delta, giving freely of time and energy and enthusi¬ 
asm. It was largely due to her practical optimism and 
untiring effort that Alpha ’s dream of a chapter bungalow 
became a reality. 




360 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


For three years, 1915-18, she served as Grand Secre¬ 
tary and for two years, 1918-20, as National Vice-presi¬ 
dent. I 

Teaching has been Miss Williamson’s profession. 



Bess Williamson, Alpha 


During the last years she has been assistant dean of 
women at the University of Wisconsin. She was a dele¬ 
gate to the conference of the International Federation of 
University Women, held in Paris, July 15-18, 1923. 




National Officers 


361 


Miss Williamson is interested in all the phases of life 
which affect women and in the mutual help which women 
are able to give each other in improving undesirable 
conditions wherever they may he found. 



Anna Miller-Knote, Zeta 


ANNA MILLER-KNOTE 

Anna Miller-Knote was a charter member of Zeta 
Chapter and was graduated from Wittenberg College in 
1905. Hers has been the task of organizing the work of 
two important offices for the fraternity. After serving a 
term as Grand Vice-president she was elected Grand In- 







M. Olive Johnson. Omicron 




National Officers 


363 


spector in 1913—an office newly established. For five 
years the visiting of chapters and the presentation of the 
national viewpoint to the college members was in her 
hands. 

In 1918 the office of executive secretary was created 
by combining the duties of secretary and editor-in-chief 
and Mrs. Knote was asked to accept it. In 1920 she was 
elected National President but in 1922 the fraternity 
recalled her to her former post as executive secretary. 
For thirteen years Mrs. Knote has exerted a constructive 
influence in the development of Alpha Xi Delta. 

M. OLIVE JOHNSON 

M. Olive Johnson was a charter member of Omicron 
Chapter. She was graduated from the University of 
California in 1910. For several years she taught in high 
schools, but the appeal of the foreigner within our land 
reached both her heart and her imagination. It was given 
her to be able to see true worth even in uncouth individ¬ 
uals and to realize its potential American value once its 
possessor had been brought into harmony with American 
ideals and customs. Therefore Miss Johnson forsook 
the teaching profession and entered Americanization 
work under the direction of the Y. W. C. A. 

Her interest in Alpha Xi Delta did not lessen with 
the passing of her college years. She kept closely in 
touch both with Omicron Chapter and with the frater¬ 
nity’s national development. In 1920 the Tenth Conven¬ 
tion elected her National Vice-president. Due to Mrs. 
Knote’s illness and her resultant absence, Miss Johnson 
presided over the Eleventh Convention, 1922. She was 
elected National President at that time. 

MYRTLE COKER-COMBE 

Myrtle Coker-Combe is an initiate of Kappa Chapter. 
She was its delegate to the Fourth Convention. There 
she received an insight into the fraternity’s national 



Myrtle Coker-Combe, Kappa 


< 









National Officers 


365 


problems which has maintained her interest in their solu¬ 
tion throughout the years. 

In 1922 the Eleventh Convention elected Mrs. Combe 
as National visitor. 



Myrtle Jones-Stevens, Mu 


MYRTLE JONES-STEVENS 
Myrtle Jones-Stevens was born and reared in Minne¬ 
apolis. Quite naturally, when she completed high school, 
she entered the University of Minnesota. She was grad¬ 
uated in 1907. With the installation of Mu Chapter in 
that same year, she became a member of Alpha Xi Delta. 
Following graduation from college and until her mar- 






























National Officers 


367 


riage to Mr. C. D. Stevens, Mrs. Stevens taught in the 
Normal School at Ellendale, N. D. She has one daughter, 
Helen, who was eleven years old in 1922. 

Upon her return to Minneapolis, incident to her mar¬ 
riage, Mrs. Stevens became an active member of Min- 
neapolis-St. Paul Alumnae Chapter. At the convention 
of 1920, she was elected National Visitor. In the two 
years for which she held that office she visited every 
chapter of the .fraternity. She assisted in the installa¬ 
tion of Alpha Theta, Alpha Eta and Alpha Iota Chapters. 

In 1922 Mrs. Stevens was elected National Vice-presi¬ 
dent. With this office had just been merged that of 
alumnae organizer. Hence the task of reorganizing the 
rather varying duties of the vice-presidency fell upon 
Mrs. Stevens. 

In addition to her work for Alpha Xi Delta Mrs. Ste¬ 
vens is very active in the Daughters of the American 
Revolution. 


LULU L. RUNGE 

Lulu Runge was initiated in Theta Chapter and was 
graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1905. 
For some years Miss Runge has been assistant professor 
of mathematics at the University of Nebraska. She 
aided in organizing the local fraternity which became 
Rho Chapter. From the time when it was able to assume 
the responsibility of a chapter-house she has lived with 
its girls. 

Miss Runge’s greatest service to the fraternity has 
been the guidance, in a large degree, of its western ex¬ 
pansion. She has assisted in installing eight chapters 
and has given freely of her help to each of them when¬ 
ever it has been needed. 

In 1920 Miss Runge was elected national treasurer 
and in 1922 was reelected to the same office. 


CHAPTER XXII 


INTERESTING ALUMNAE 
MARY MEEK ATKESON 

Iota 

M ARY MEEK ATKESON was born at the family 
seat, “Lawnvale,” near Buffalo, W. Va. A de¬ 
lightful description of this old house appeared in 
one of her recent articles. Her grandfather had come 
west seeking a home site and when he first saw this spot, 
as the river boat on which he was a passenger rounded 
a curve, he knew that his search was ended. The house at 
Lawnvale is the enduring work of his hands for the bricks 
were baked and the lumber prepared and the building 
done under his personal direction and with his actual 
help. 

Her father, Dr. Thomas Clark Atkeson, was for many 
years Dean of the College of Agriculture of the Univer¬ 
sity of West Virginia. Later he was the Washington 
Representative of the National Grange and a national 
leader in agricultural affairs. 

Mary Meek Atkeson was Iota Chapter’s first pledge 
after its installation into Alpha Xi Delta. She says of 
herself that while in college she was an active member of 
every thing on the campus. The long and varied list of 
her college honors gives support to the statement for it 
includes: editor-in-chief of The Monogalian, the college 
magazine; head of the English Club, and honor society; 
Chief Story-Teller of Seo Beowulf Gedryht, the Anglo 
Saxon honor society; founder of The Laurel, an honor 
society for girls which has had a great influence upon 
the university life at West Virginia and the Alpha Xi 
Delta honor ring. 


Interesting Alumnae 


369 


Mary Meek Atkeson was graduated from the Uni¬ 
versity of West Virginia in 1910 with the degree A.B. 
In 1913 she received also from it the degree A.M. In 
1919 Ohio State Uni¬ 
versity conferred 
upon her the degree 
Ph.D. 

Miss Atkesoips 
teaching experience 
consists of one year 
as assistant in Eng¬ 
lish at the University 
of Missouri and 
three years as in¬ 
structor in English 
at West Virginia 
University. 

Original research 
work is presented in 
W e st V ir g ini a 
Writers published in 
1913; A Study of the 
Local Literature of 
the Upper Ohio Val¬ 
ley with Especial reference to the early Pioneer and 
Indian Tales, 1820-1840, published by the Ohio State 
University in 1921 and A Study of the Literature of 
West Virginia, 1822-1922, published in 1922. Historical 
literary articles by Miss Atkeson also appeared in the 
Semi-Centennial History of West Virginia and in the 
History of West Virginia by Dr. James Morton Callahan. 

Her better known work is that as a writer for the gen¬ 
eral magazines of articles on country life, plays, stories 
and poems. In speaking of her country life articles W. E. 
Bigelow, editor of Good Housekeeping wrote: “I do not 
know of anyone writing about farm problems who shows 
a more critical and at the same time sympathetic knowl¬ 
edge of them than does Miss Atkeson.” 




370 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

This interest in country life is reflected in the four 
plays which she has written: The Cross Roads Meetiv.\’ 
House, The Good Old Days, The Will and Don’t. After 
being published separately they appeared in a bound 
volume, Country Plays. 

Miss Atkeson is a frequent contributor to current 
magazines, her name being familiar on the pages of The 
Country Gentleman, Good Housekeeping, The Ladies’ 
Home Journal, The Pictorial Review, McCall’s, The Eng¬ 
lish Magazine, The Editor, The Penwoman, The Farm¬ 
er’s Wife and others. 

Her club memberships include: League of American 
Penwomen, International Literary Association, Ameri¬ 
can Association of University Women. 

PHYLLIS BLANCHARD 

Tau 

Phyllis Blanchard was graduated from New Hamp¬ 
shire College in 1917 and in 1919 received the Ph.D. de¬ 
gree from Clark University. The following years she 
was research assistant to Dr. G. Stanley Hall, then presi¬ 
dent of Clark University. She has also acted as 
psychologist at the New York State Reformatory and as 
psychologist on the psychopathic service of Bellevue 
Hospital, New York City. At present, June, 1923, Dr. 
Blanchard is psychologist on a mental hygiene clinic in 
Monmouth County, New Jersey. 

This clinic was planned to work with the public school 
children of the county and operates under the Common¬ 
wealth Program for the Prevention of Delinquency. In 
telling of her work, Dr. Blanchard wrote: 

If we find the earliest signs of physical or mental abnormalities and 
correct these in children, we shall prevent much mental disease (insanity) 
and criminal conduct in adult life. 

We travel from school to school, giving eaeh child a preliminary medical 
and psychological examination, and securing a description of his per¬ 
sonality, traits and behavior from his teachers. If he is in any respect 
maladjusted—if his intelligence appears below average, his physical con¬ 
dition is poor, if he has abnormal personality traits or shows any behavior 


Interesting Alumnce 


371 


difficulties (lying, stealing, truancy, etc.) we do an intensive study, which 
includes detailed psychiatric and psychological examination, investigation of 
the home and general social environment, etc. Our purpose is to discover 
the causes for maladjustment and then we can map out a plan of treat¬ 
ment whereby the child can be benefited. The parents, teachers, school 
nurses, local physicians, all co-operate with us in carrying out plans. 



Dr. Phyllis Blanchard, Tau • 


Many children need physical treatment; many need more intelligent 
parental control; others need different pedagogical instruction. My own 
particular concern is the estimation of the child’s general intelligence, and 
also his special abilities and disabilities, with a view to planning his 
school curriculum or advising special pedagogical methods and giving 
vocational advice. 







372 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Dr. Blanchard has done much original research work 
and her first book Taboo and Genetics was written in 
collaboration with M. M. King and Iva Lowther Peters. 

The Adolescent Girl , her second book, bore an intro¬ 
duction by Dr. G. Stanley Hall and has already appeared 
in two American and one English edition. 

Late in 1922 Abnormal Behavior was published. Its 
subtitle is Pitfalls of Our Minds . It was written in col¬ 
laboration with Dr. Irving J. Sands, a psychiatrist with 
whom Dr. Blanchard had worked while in New York City. 
Before Abnormal Behavior was off the presses there was 
already talk of both English and French editions. 

Dr. Blanchard is a member of the American Psycho¬ 
logical Association and of the American Sociological 
Society and has appeared on the program of the annual 
meetings of both societies. y j 

When asked to tell of her hobbies and favorite sports 
Dr. Blanchard said: 

In the past year I’ve become an accomplished chauffeur with only one 
accident to my credit. I am still near enough to New York to have week¬ 
end theater parties and dances for recreation. When I can steal an evening 
from my work, I experiment with—would you ever guess it—short stories. 
I haven’t tried any of them out on the editors yet, but maybe 1 ’ll even dare 
do that some day. 


MIRIAM WOOLSON BROOKS 

Beta 

Miriam Woolson Brooks is descended from colonial 
settlers and Revolutionary forebears by both father and 
mother. The pioneering instinct did not disappear from 
the blood for both grandfathers, the one an attorney and 
the other a physician, were among Iowa’s early settlers. 
Mrs. Brooks’ father, John S. Woolson, was judge of the 
U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. 

Miriam Woolson Brooks studied first at Iowa Wes¬ 
leyan College being graduated in 1893 with the degree 
of B.A. She has since gained a Master’s Degree in Edu¬ 
cation from the Iowa State Teachers’ College and a 


Interesting Alumnae 373 

Master’s Degree in Political Science from Columbia 
University. 

Mrs. Brooks’ teaching work has been in political 
science. She has done much public speaking in the same 
line, trying to fill first the requests for lectures where 
they might be a community benefit. She feels the direc¬ 
tion and informing of public opinion ought to be the 
special province of those engaged in educational work. 
Special study should have broadened their horizons and 
the world needs the added breadth. 

Mrs. Brooks has published an American History Out¬ 
line, a book which sells well into the thousands year after 
year. It was compiled for use by those who had received 
inadequate instruction in American history and for those 
who wished a rapid review of the subject. In 1923 it was 
revised and a new edition published. 

Love of the commonwealth in which she was born and 
to whose building her father and grandfathers gave so 
much of their lives is a passion with Mrs. Brooks. 

Of herself Mrs. Brooks writes, “I try to keep in touch with outside 
organizations that I may not lose the human sensibilities. I always main¬ 
tain my own apartment which shelters me when I have that terrible 
sensation that ‘the world is too much with us.’ I enjoy nothing more 
than, the time I spend in adjusting my tiny vine and fig tree. 

‘ ‘ My hobbies—active exercise in the out of doors. I swim, row, 
skate, ride horse-back, hike, play golf and tennis. All of these I feel are 
life savers to the nerves of those having nervous occupations. Incidentally 
they are rescuers of those over whom the person involved has jurisdiction. 

“My most prized interest is an only son, a graduate of the University 
of Pennsylvania and a practicing architect in Des Moines. His life has 
been a continued joy to me throughout the years. ’ ’■ 

In 1923 Mrs. Brooks’ club activities included: Presi¬ 
dent, Teachers’ Federation of Des Moines; Industrial 
Committee, Y. W. C. A.; Chairman, Open Forum De¬ 
partment, Women’s Club; Chairman, Publicity Com¬ 
mittee, The Professional Woman’s League; Vice-presi¬ 
dent, Des Moines Alumnae Chapter Alpha Xi Delta; 
Organization Committee, State Nonpartisan League of 
Nations National Organization. 


374 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

PERSIS HANNAH BROWN 

Lambda 

It was comfortably understood by her family that 
after Persis Hannah graduated from Tuft’s College in 
1907 she would teach Latin in some eminently proper 
high school. This plan was shattered in her junior year 
when a series of thrilling articles depicting the life of a 
woman in journalism came into her hands and were 
read. Being passionately interested in seeing things 
happen, these articles convinced her that a journalistic 
career offered far greater inducements along that line 
than teaching ever would. She announced her decision to 
a disconcerted and disapproving family, for even so re¬ 
cently as 1907 teaching was the one supreme lady-like 
occupation and a woman reporter was an almost un¬ 
known oddity. 

After graduation Persis Hannah resolutely declined 
several good openings as a teacher and succeded in get¬ 
ting attached to a morning paper, The Boston Journal , 
where her hours were from 1. p. m. until the day’s work 
was finished and that meant anytime from 9 o’clock in 
the evening to 1 a. m. While her experience did not 
prove up to the specifications of the luring articles she 
had read, it was still quite interesting. 

Her active reporting covered only a few years but 
within that time she did articles dealing with subjects 
from woman’s point of view; straight reporting which 
means fires, murders, lectures, trials and banquets re¬ 
ported as news without any viewpoint at all and also 
interviewed a number of prominent and famous people. 

In 1911 Persis Hannah began writing for the George 
Matthew Adams Service which syndicates features to 
newspapers throughout the country. Her articles appear 
under the heading ‘‘Chit Chat” and are signed by the 
name of Ruth Cameron. As Ruth Cameron she became 
one of that development in American newspaper work 
which allows distressed people everywhere to take a 
trusted stranger into their confidence and receive through 


Interesting Alumnae 


375 


the pages of their favorite paper the benefit of an un¬ 
prejudiced viewpoint. 

In writing of this work she says: 

This work brings me into touch with thousands of people all over the 
United States and Canada. The letters I receive run the whole scale from 
the ridiculous to the tragic. It is surely a great opportunity to have people 
open up their hearts to you and give you a cross section of their innermost 
life. Then the letters of encouragement and praise that people write me 
are among my most precious possessions. It seems to me it is a pretty fine 
world when people who are under no obligation or compulsion whatever, 
will take the trouble to sit down and write a letter telling me that they 
like my little talks or that some word of mine has helped. 

In 1912 Persis Hannah was married to Royal Brown, 
then city editor of the Boston Journal, the first paper for 
which she had worked. Mr. Brown is now a writer of 
short stories. The Browns spend their summers at 
their home, “Postscript House,” at Humarock, Mass., 
and their winters wherever they chance to wish to be. 
Both are lovers of the out-doors and their leisure hours* 
are filled with riding, swimming, skiing, snowshoeing, 
canoeing and long tramps. 

HELEN CHASE BULGIN 

Eta 

After being graduated from Syracuse University in 
1909 Helen Chase went to New York where she studied 
under Rafael Josetfy the eminent pianist and teacher. 
Later she became his assistant. 

For the last twelve years Helen Chase has devoted 
herself to the profession of operatic coach in which she 
has won fame. She is associated in this work with Oscar 
Saenger and has been coach for the Edison Kinetophone 
Company; Arthur Hammerstein’s Firefly; Reginald 
Dickenen’s production of Robin Hood and Bob Boy and 
coach on tour with the Gallo Opera Company in which 
her late husband, Arthur Bulgin, was the leading bari¬ 
tone. 

In each July Helen Chase is a guest teacher in the 
Chicago Musical College. She has acted also as accom- 


376 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


panist to many artists in recital in New York’s Aeolin 
Hall. However, her work at present consists chiefly of 
concert, oratorio and operatic repertoire for artists. 

Arranging vaudeville 
acts for singers, even 
as to stage deportment, 
and concert programs 
entire have become her 
specialties. Her clien- 
tile includes many Me¬ 
tropolitan Opera House 
artists, among others 
being Kathleen How¬ 
ard, Helena Marsh, 
Anna Case and Paul 
Althouse. 

Helen Chase wrote 
a word of warning to 
all her sisters who are 
ambitious of artistic 
careers. 

I have found that one 
draws too much on the emotional 
strings when any line of art is 
pursued with the necessary impetus to become and remain a success in this 
day and age. Very few constitutions can stand the strain unless one spends 
their hours of leisure in a life which is a complete contrast to the “ artistic 
trend . 1 1 

I learned this through bitter experience and pass it on to those who 
may foolishly think they can drive continuously at music and not eventually 
have a complete breakdown. Every spare minute should be spent in 
diverting the mind—a hobby is a fine thing and then, when one returns to 
their routine, one is fresh and has more vibrant impressions to give an 
audience or pupils as the case may be. 

EVELYN FARRAR SKINNER 

Omicron 

The earliest memories of Evelyn Farrar Skinner cen¬ 
ter about singing. Almost from the time she first remem¬ 
bers she has done choir work, and, at different times, has 



Helen Chase Bulgin, Eta 



Interesting Alumnae 


377 


been soloist in a number of choirs, including that of 
Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. 

She was graduated from the University of California 
in 1918 and spent the 
following year in San 
Francisco. She then 
went to New York 
and shared that bit¬ 
ter experience com¬ 
mon to so many ambi¬ 
tious music students 
who go to the great 
city—time wasted in 
the search for the 
right teacher. Just 
as discouragement 
had almost made her 
decide to return home 
she found a teacher 
under whom she made 
splendid progress 
and stayed on in 
New York to study. Evelyn Farrar Skinner, Omicron 

In the fall of 1920 she signed up as a member of the 
ensemble in Mecca, that spectacular production which 
held the interest of the entire country and had a long, 
successful run in New York. In the summer of 1921 
Evelyn Farrar was married to Harold Otis Skinner, who 
was playing the villain in the same company. That fall 
they both went on the road with Mecca but instead of 
being in the ensemble, Mrs. Skinner was playing a small 
part and having the understudy. Then one of those un¬ 
expected incidents occurred which sometimes happen in 
the artistic world and Mrs. Skinner was singing the lead, 
an ingenue part. 

With the death of her husband an interruption came 
to Mrs. Skinner’s career. She has spent the last year 
quietly in Coronado, California, but now, June, 1923, her 
plans are again of New York and theater. 



378 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


MAXINE DAVIS 


Psi 

When Maxine Davis was graduated in 1921 from the 
College of Journalism at Ohio State University, she at 
once put into practice a daring plan which she had formed 


for a newspaper 
syndicate of her own, 
The Women’s Na¬ 
tional News Bureau. 
She visited a number 
of cities securing con¬ 
tracts from their 
leading newspapers 
for woman’s activity 
story once a week. 



Miss Davis then 
went to Washington, 
D. C., where she has 
been writing news 
from a woman’s 
viewpoint. Of her 
initial work there she 
writes: “It was dur¬ 
ing the disarmament 
conference and I was 


Maxine Davis, Psi 


too thrilled to breathe. I sat across the table from H. G. 
Wells once, and talked to Wickham Steed, and everything 
that makes a very young correspondent think she is 
living on top of the earth.” 

Miss Davis’ articles have discussed the tariff, the ship 
subsidy, the bonus, the world court and lesser political 
issues and what each means to the housewife and mother. 
Miss Davis is one of only five women members of the 
Press Gallery of Congress and the youngest woman who 
has ever been a member. She is accredited to the Press 
Gallery on the bureau of the Detroit Free Press. 

Miss Davis ’ stories also cover the activities of women 
in organizations, politics, legislation and business. 


Interesting Alumnw 


379 


In addition to her newspaper work Miss Davis edits 
a department in Child Life. Each month under the head¬ 
ing of Little Artists a brief biography of some famous 
person appears which is written for child reading and 
stresses the childhood of the person discussed. 

Miss Davis’ club memberships include: Women’s Na¬ 
tional Press Association, American Association of Uni¬ 
versity Women, Dill Pickle, Alpha Xi Delta. 

RUTH SAWYER DURAND 

Alpha Beta 

The brightest memories of Ruth Sawyer’s childhood 
cluster about the baking of Irish griddle bread with 
raisins in it and the telling of Irish faery tales on those 
occasions when she was allowed to have tea with her 
nurse. To the disgust of her three older and sophisti¬ 
cated brothers she tenanted every corner of the house 
with faery folk. 

It is not surprising that the love of make-believe en¬ 
dured and when her years in one of Boston’s private 
schools were ended, Ruth Sawyer took a course of normal 
training in kindergarten work at the Garland School, 
When that training was finished she spent some time in 
Cuba, helping to organize kindergartens there. 

Upon her return from Cuba, she attended Columbia 
University, New York City, and while a student there 
became interested in story-telling. She began by giving 
her stories away to any one who would listen. She went 
into hospitals, day-nurseries, orphan asylums and settle¬ 
ments ; she picked up children on trains, in parks and on 
the street. Very naturally the stories she liked best were 
faery tales—and of these the Celtic soon became her 
specialty. This was the time she found the need of going 
into Ireland to find the faeries for herself. When she 
had her art sufficiently mastered she began her profes¬ 
sional story-telling under the auspices of the Public 
Lecture Bureau of the New York Board of Education. 



#fV 


Ruth Sawyer-Durand and Her Son, David 






Interesting Alumnce 381 

Her first writing soon followed, as she adapted stories 
for her own nse. 

Ruth Sawyer is a successful writer of short stories, 
having published about one hundred in current maga¬ 
zines. In addition to her stories she has nine books, sev¬ 
eral sketches for vaudeville and two plays which have 
been produced to her credit. Her books are: The Prim¬ 
rose Ring; Seven Miles to Arden; Herself, Himself and 
Myself; Leerie; The Silver Sixpence; The Child’s Year 
Booh; This Way to Christmas; Gladiola Murphy and 
The Tale of the Enchanted Bunnies. 

In them she champions the wonder side of life and is 
a bitter antagonist to the school of grim and sordid 
realism. 

Speaking of herself, Ruth Sawyer, who is Mrs. A. C. 
Durand, says: 

I am particularly interested in good books for children and have given 
considerable time to getting the best books read and circulated in this part 
of New York State. I ani tremendously interested in story-telling and 
what it can do in recreational and welfare work, in the Americanization 
League and in libraries and reform schools. 

I am one of the contributing editors for the Woman Citizen and feel 
very strongly that that is a paper every keen-minded woman should take. 
Way and ahead of all this I am interested in my children and giving them 
a simple, wholesome home atmosphere to grow up in. I am a very strong 
believer that every woman with a home and children should be interested in 
some big, constructive bit of work outside her home interests; but this 
does not mean a business or professional career. While the children are 
little I don’t think one woman can do two things and do either of them 
well. 

I have no hobbies except out-doors and I am passionately fond of good 
music and drama. 

MARY M. KINNAYEY 

Sigma 

Mary M. K.nnavey, of Davenport, Iowa, was grad¬ 
uated from Iowa Wesleyan University, 1917, with an 
A.B. degree. The following year, 1918, she worked out 
her master’s degree in Western American History. 
Then, by one of the chances which determine the life of 
individuals, instead of finding herself behind a teacher’s 


382 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 



desk, she accepted a position on the staff of the Davenport 
Democrat. For three years she remained with it, doing 
feature articles. At this time she was also correspondent 

for the Musical Couri¬ 
er of New York City. 

In 1921 Miss Kin- 
navey came to Chic¬ 
ago to assume the 
management of the 
Women’s National 
Journalistic Register. 
This register was an 
experiment without 
precedent and was 
established by Theta 
Sigma Phi, national 
professional frater¬ 
nity for women in 
journalism. The reg¬ 
ister serves the public 
as well as members of 
Theta Sigma Phi. It 
places women in 
journalistic positions in all parts of the country, being 
national in its scope as indicated by itsi name. 

The register also investigates opportunities for wom¬ 
en in journalism and this material is available to anyone 
who wishes to consult it. As a by-product of its investi¬ 
gations, the register is trying to learn the phases of 
journalism most popular with women. 

Theta Sigma Phi attempts to choose for its college 
members girls who will later he professionally interested 
in journalism. It requires that a girl be recommended 
for excellence in journalistic work by the head of that 
department before she is eligible for membership. Miss 
Kinnavey was elected national president of Theta Sigma 
Phi in 1923. 

In addition to her duties at the register, Miss Kin- 


Mary Kinnavey, Sigma 




Interesting Alumnce 


383 


navey is a free lance in journalism. She writes feature 
stories regularly for the News Enterprise Association, 
a syndicate serving close to six hundred newspapers. 
Her most frequent themes are women’s interests and 
sports. Miss Kinnavey is a pioneer as a woman sport 
writer for this is a field in which man is traditionally 
supreme. She has made a particular study of all types 
of sports and her accurate and interesting stories of 
games and meets and fights are helping to destroy one 
more prejudice against feminine work. 


GRACE KINER 

Alpha Gamma 



To Grace Kiner, a junior at Coe College, while busy 
with test tubes and retorts working out a major in chem¬ 
istry, came the startling revelation that neither pure nor 
real place in her life. What 
she wanted to do beyond 
everything else was to write. 

College life is full of op¬ 
portunities and the words 
for stunts, plays and toasts 
gave her facile pen much 
practice. She was class poet 
in 1923 and won the senior 
essay prize. A severer 
school than college taught 
her its lessons when, for a 
years she worked on the staff 
of the Cedar Rapids Repub¬ 
lican , doing feature articles, 
many of which were copied 
in other papers. Articles 
by Miss Kiner treating of 
scientific topics have ap¬ 


peared in Popular Science grace kiner, Alpha Gamma 
and Popular Mechanics. In 

September, 1923, Farm Life carried a leading article 
from her pen. 



384 History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 

Pedagogical Pep, a book of helps for teachers, in¬ 
cludes her article on “How to Teach Spelling.” 

Miss Kiner has made her own way through college 
and is planning to take her master’s degree in literature, 
thus retrieving her mistaken chemistry hours. She plans 
to write of the girls of today whom she understands so 
thoroughly. She hopes to aid in dissipating the mis¬ 
understanding and prejudice which looks askance at the 
younger generation. 

Of herself she says: 

I believe I am a rather ordinary person. I love to read and like to 
dance and do most of the things that other girls do. I adore my fraternity 
and feel that it was through it that I had the courage to go on with my 
Xi Delta. 

As for my dislikes, I hate intolerant people and receptions. I guess 
that is all. 

MARION RYAN 

Theta 

Marion Ryan was 
born in Wausau, Wis¬ 
consin, and all her 
life has considered 
that her home. She 
attended the Univer¬ 
sity of Wisconsin, 
being elected to Phi 
Beta Kappa in her 
junior year. She 
was graduated with 
an A.B. degree in 
1906 and wrote and 
delivered the Ivy 
Ode at the class day 
exercises. She was 
the first woman ever 
elected to the Wis¬ 
consin Lit. board. In 
1912 she received her 
M.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin. 



Marion Ryan, Theta 




Interesting Alumnce 


385 


Following her graduation, Miss Ryan held a fellow¬ 
ship at the University of Missouri for one year and was 
for seven years an assistant professor in that univer¬ 
sity. During that time she helped to write and produce 
a pageant given by the Missouri State Historical Society 
in commemoration of Missouri’s admission as a state. 

For the last three years Miss Ryan has been a mem¬ 
ber of the faculty of the University of Wisconsin. 

It is most interesting to note that from the time of 
her initiation into Alpha Xi Delta her name has fre¬ 
quently appeared in the journal, signed to verse both 
fanciful and thoughtful. In speaking of her recently pub¬ 
lished work, Miss Rose Waldo, editor of Child Life, classi¬ 
fied it as “verging upon the remarkable.” 

In the group of her poems given here, August ap¬ 
peared first in a University of Wisconsin calendar in 
which Horatio Winslow and Berton Braley were also 
represented. Caterpillar On The Wall and The Lily 
Queens are among her poems which have appeared in 
Child Life and are reprinted by permission. 


AUGUST 

To lie amidst the grass and dream, 
Beneath a tree, beside a stream— 
Whose waters run the tall reeds through 
From sun-hot morn till evening dew; 
With half-closed eyes to seek the bird 
Whose drowsy twitter’s scarcely heard, 
Or glimpse the August goldenrod 
In lazy langour dip and nod 
Beneath the weight of humble bee 
Is summer’s joy enow for me. 


CATERPILLAR ON THE WALL 

Caterpillar on the wall, 

Fuzzy, furry yellow ball! 

Don’t I wish that I could spy 
You turning to a butterfly! 


386 


History of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity 


Will you be a yellow one, 

Sparkling, golden, in the sun, 

Or a dusky tan and brown, 
Fluttering lightly up and down 

In and out among the flowers 
All the warm sweet summer hours? 

Caterpillar, please don’t go 
Till you’ve told me how you grow. 

THE LILY QUEENS 

In one far corner of the yard 
Tall purple lilies grow. 

Some people call them iris flowers; 

I call them queens, for oh! 

They are exceeding straight and tall; 
Like royal folk they seem. 

I play they are fair princesses 
Enchanted in a dream. 

I think at night sometimes they walk 
And wave their scepters bright, 

And trail their purple robes all in 
The garden’s pale moonlight. 

Then, as they walk, the other flowers 
All bend quite low to them; 

The hollyhocks, so stiff and tall, 

Bow on each stately stem. 

The roses gently send th^ir pink 
Sweet petals showering down 
To make a carpet for each queen 
In royal purple gown. 

But when the sun comes peeping up 
The lily queens must go 
To their own garden spot and be 
Just flowers in a row. 


INDEX 


A 

Akron Alumnae Chapter, work 

of . 

Alliance Alumnae Chapter, work 


ot . 170 

war work .311, 312, 318 

Alpha Chapter, group picture, 

1902 . 28 

history of. 34 

home . 147 

honor ring members. 294 

liberty bonds . 328 

war work .329, 331 

Alpha Alpha Chapter, charter 

members . 120 

history of . 119 

Alpha Beta Chapter, charter 

members . 122 

history of . 121 

honor ring members. 301 

Alpha Delta Chapter, charter 

members . 127 

history of . 128 

honor ring members. 301 

war work . 332 

Alpha Epsilon Chapter, char¬ 
ter members . .. .. 130 

history of .’. 128 

home . 164 

honor ring members. 301 

Alpha Eta Chapter, charter 

members . 135 

history of. 133 

honor ring members. 302 

Alpha Gamma Chapter, char¬ 
ter members . 125 

history of . 124 

honor ring members. 301 

liberty bonds. 328 

Alpha Iota Chapter, charter 

members . 140 

history of . 139 

Alpha Kappa Chapter, charter 

members . 142 

history of .. 143 

home . 167 

Alpha Lambda Chapter, char¬ 
ter members . 144 


history of. 145 

Alpha Theta Chapter, charter 

members . 138 

history of . 136 

honor ring members. 302 

Alpha Xi Delta, gifts of. 339 

incorporation of.... 200 , 215, 219 

national customs. 335 

national movement . 27 

organization of . 3 

Alpha Xi Delta, The 

files of.276, 288 

historical numbers.275, 279 

influence of World War 

on .277, 278 

legislation affecting. 

. 210, 214, 224, 230, 247 

life subscriptions to ... .275, 278 

official cover . 275 

provision for . 271 

publication of . 275 

staff picture, 1904-05 . 272 

Alpha Zeta Chapter, charter 

members . 132 

history of. 131 

home .. 165 

honor ring members. 301 

Alumnae, classification of.. . 169, 249 

hospital work . 170 

Alumnae adviser, duties of. . . . 204 

Alumnae organization, provi¬ 
sion for . 168 

convention hostessesi. 170 

hospital work . 170 

legislation affecting .... 222, 224 

meetings of . 169 

national .189, 224 

officering of . 168 

organizer, work of. 189 

Andrus, Calla A., work of .... 250 

Armstrong, Ethel Hoskins, 

work of .244, 278 

Arnold, Ethelyn, work of. 250 

Atkeson, Mary Meek, life sketch 368 

portrait . 369 

work of .223, 226, 275, 276 

Atkins, Lida Jones, work 

of .244, 250 


387 






































































388 


Index 


B 

Badge, custodian of . 

description of . 

first design of. 

first jewelled . 

standardization of.. 195, 226, 

Ball, Ellen, life sketch. 

portrait . 

work of. 

.. 219, 222, 226, 231, 236, 
Banner, adoption of ..197, 222, 
Behlow, Ruth Stark, war 

work .320, 

Bell, Rosalie Retz, work of... 

portrait. 

Beta Chapter, group picture, 
1904 . 


195 

194 

194 

195 
243 
352 
352 

240 

226 

322 

231 

230 


36 


history of . 35 

honor ring members. 294 

installation of. 31 

Blagbrough, Audrey Duffey, 

work of . 240 

portrait . 238 

Blanchard, Phyllis, life sketch 370 

Book and Scroll . 97 

portrait . 371 

Block, Cora Bollinger, life 

sketch . 8 

portraits .9, 29 

war work . 327 

Bolton, Mary Salmon, work of 

. 212, 214, 273 

Boston Alumnae Chapter, or¬ 
ganization of . 67 

war work . 311 

work of . 171 

Bradford, Edith, work of.... 

. 231, 236, 276 

portrait . 277 

Brinkman, Edna Epperson, life 

sketch . 349 

portrait . 350 

work of . 212 

Brooks, Miriam Woolson, life 

sketch . 371 

Brown, Persis Hannah, life 

sketch .' 373 

Bruce, Ethel Baldwin, portrait 242 

war work . 317 

work of .54, 244, 278 

Bruner, Alice Bartlett, life 

sketch . 21 

portrait.21-22 

work of . 30 

Budget system . 237 

Bulgin, Helen Chase, life sketch 375 
portrait . 376 


C 

Canton Alumnae Chapter, pe¬ 
tition of . 189 

Cason, Clara Salmer, work of. 219 
Cedar Rapids Alumnae Chapter, 

organization of. 189 

Champaign-Urbana Alumnae 

Chapter, work of. 184 

Chase, Iva Baker, work of.... 250 

Cheer, explanation of. 198 

Cheney, Almira, life sketch... 17 

portrait.17-18 

Cheney, Frances, life sketch.. 14 

portrait . 16 

Chi Chapter, charter members. 110 

history of . 109 

home . 162 

honor ring members. 301 

liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work . 331 

Chicago Alumnae Chapter, war 

work .311, 332 

work of . 189 

Chicago Collegiate Bureau of 

Occupation . 230 

Cleveland Alumnae Chapter, 

work of. 184 

Coat-of-arms, adoption of.. 197, 213 

description of . 196 

Columbus Alumnae Chapter, 

work of. 183 

College chapters, membership. 200 
national requirements of 205, 230 
College members, duties of 206, 234 

Colors, customs,. 335 

gold added . 197 

original . 197 

Combe, Myrtle Coker, life 

sketch . 363 

portrait . 364 


Committees, national . .. 

.201, 217, 224, 248 

Countway, Gussanda, portrait. 222 

war work . 320 

work of .222, 226 

Constitution, first adopted.... 27 

national adoption . 210 

national committee . 29 

Crane, Frances, work of... 136, 250 
Cunningham, Mabel Bracher, 

work of. 214 

D 

Davis, Bertha, war work. 322 

Davis, Maxine, life sketch.... 378 
portrait . 378 








































































Index 


389 


Delta Chapter, charter mem¬ 
bers . 


Detroit Alumnae Chapter, work 

of. 

Des Moines Alumnae Chapter, 

work of . 

Directory, publication of. .. 248, 
Dolbear, Alice Cotton, war 
work . 


288 


45 

Fargo, Martha, work of. 

.226, 231, 236, 

275 

42 

honor ring committee...... 

293 

>, 43 

Fletcher, Edith Miller, work of 

344 

295 

Fenton, Polly, life sketch.... 

357 

329 

portrait . 

358 

331 

work of. . .226, 231, 236, 240, 

275 


work in N. P. C. 

260 

186 

Ferris, Margaret, chapter by.. 

303 


portrait . 

287 

180 

work of . 

288 

280 

Foster, Julia Maude, life 



sketch . 

22 

318 

portrait. 

23 

168 

war work . 

324 

287 

Founders ’ Day service. 

236 


work of . 

Durand, Ruth Sawyer, life 

sketch . 379 

portrait . 380 

E 

Endowment Fund, National.. 205 
Engagements, announcements 

of . 337 

Epsilon Chapter, charter mem¬ 
bers . 47 

history of . 46 

honor ring members. 295 

liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work.329, 330, 331 

Eta Chapter, charter members 53 

history of . 52 

home . 153 

honor ring members. 295 

liberty bonds.328, 329 

war work .329, 330, 332 

European trip ... * 303 

Evans, Bertha Cook, life sketch 25 

portrait .25, 26 

Everton, Eliza Curtis, life 

sketch . 11 

portrait. 12 

war work . 321 

Examinations, fraternity .... 207 

adoption of . 217 

consideration of . 210 

development of . 268 

subject matter .226, 231 

Executive secretary, national, 

duties of .202, 237 

F 

Falloon, Fern, chapter by.... 309 

portrait . 287 

work of .89, 288 


G 

Galesburg Alumnae Chapter, 

war work .311, 312 

work of .-.. 186 

Gamma Chapter, group picture, 

1904 . 40 

history of . 39 

home . 148 

honor ring members. 294 

installation of . 32 

liberty bonds . 328 

war work . 329 

Gilmer, Lucy, life sketch. 14 

portrait . 14 

Gilmour, Gertrude Wright, 

work of.217, 220, 273, 274 

Gladish, Madeline Woodworth, 

work of .244, 250 

Grand Committee, first, group 

picture. 31 

meeting of . 31 

Grande-Maitre, Blanche, war 

work . 316 

work of .71, 72 

H 

Handbook . 248 

Hartzell, Mabel, war work. . . . 320 

work of .214, 273 

Haskell, Ruth Sibley, life 

sketch . 353 

portrait . 355 

war work . 320 

work of.222, 226, 231, 236 

Hendershot, Heloise, war work 321 

Heustis, Alice Cummings, work 

of . 231 

Hines, Josephine, war work... 318 

History, legislation affecting 

. 222, 229 








































































390 


Index 


preparation for. 286 

publication of . 288 

Holen, Theda Shaw, work of.. 250 

Honor ring, adoption of. 224 

history of . 293 

legislation affecting .... 234, 238 

member list . 294 

Hospital work . 170 

adoption of . 243 

Akron A. C. 183 

Detroit A. C. 186 

Galesburg A. C. 186 

Lincoln A. C. 185 

Madison A. C. 186 

Milwaukee A. C. 186 

Minneapolis-St. Paul A. C. .. 174 

New York A. C. 176 

Seattle A. C. 172 

Tacoma A. C. 185 

House fund, national, estab¬ 
lished .146, 224 

Howard, Hilda, reconstruction 

work . 327 

Humeston, Genevieve, war work 317 

I 

Indianapolis Alumnae Chapter, 

organization of . 189 

Iota Chapter, charter members 60 

history of . 59 

honor ring members. 297 

liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work . 329 

Iowa City Alumnae Chapter, 

work of . 185 

J 

Jewel, official .4, 195 

Johnson, M. Olive, life sketch. 363 

portrait . 362 

war work .317, 332 

work of .243, 250 

Jurgensohn, Eva, war work... 322 

K 

Kansas City Alumnae Chapter, 

war work .311, 312 

work of . 181 

Kappa Chapter, charter mem¬ 
bers . 64 

history of . 63 

home . 65 

honor ring members . 297 

recognition pin committee.. 196 

Kay, Mary Emily, European 

trip . 303 

Gamma house fund . 171 


honor ring committee . 293 

life sketch . 353 

pledge pin committee . 196 

portrait . 354 

war work . 320 

work of. 

210, 212, 214, 217, 219, 222, 271 
Kimble, Anna Gillis, life 

sketch . 348 

N. P. C. delegate.213, 256 

portrait . 349 

war work . 319 

work of.30, 208, 210, 212 

Kiner, Grace, life sketch. 383 

portrait . 383 

Kinnavey, Mary, convention 

report . 244 

life sketch . 381 

portrait . 382 

Kinsey, Wilhelmina Slaymaker, 

work of . 250 

Knote, Anna Miller, life sketch 361 

portrait . 361 

work in N. P. C. 264 

work of . 

226, 231, 236, 240, 243, 250, 278 
Koenig, Clara, work of. 250 


Lambda Chapter, campus 

scenes . 70 

charter members ... 68 

history of . 67 

honor ring members . 297 

liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work .330, 331, 332 

Laurence, Edith, work of..220, 274 
Leach, Marjorie Henry, work 

of .‘. 318 

Leib, Ella Boston, life sketch. 351 

portrait . 351 

work of.214, 217, 219 

work in N. P. C. 257 

Leonard, Ida Fenton, work of 

. 277, 293 

Lexington Alumnae Chapter, 

work of .81, 186 

Liberty bonds.313, 323, 328 

Lincoln Alumnae Chapter, work 

of . 185 

Lockwood, Dora, work of. 

.217, 220, 273, 275 

Lombard College, founding of 1 
Los Angeles Alumnae Chapter, 

war work . 311 

work of . 185 

Lynn, Helen Willis, portrait.. 287 





































































Index 391 


war work.325, 326 

work of .244, 250, 278, 288 


M 


MacNamee, Hazel 

Duffey, 

work of . 

.240, 278 

Madison Alumnae 

Chapter, 

war work .... 

.311, 332 

work of .. 

. 186 

Mahoning Valley Alumnae Chap¬ 

ter, organization of. 188 

Maiken, Louise Singer, work of 212 
Mansfield, Grace, war work... 323 

McCollum, Harriet 

Luella, life 

sketch . 

. 6 

portrait. 

. 7 

Kansas City . . 

. 182 

vision of . 

. 2 

McKean, Martha 

Hutchings, 

portrait .... 

. 274 

work of. 

....217, 220, 273 

Memorial Service 

. 236 


Mercer, Hazel, work of. 

.240, 244, 250, 278 

Miami Alumnae Chapter, peti¬ 
tion of . 189 

Milwaukee Alumnae Chapter, 

work of . 186 

Minneapolis-St. Paul Alumnae 

Chapter, work of. 174 

war work .311, 313, 332 

Mitchell, Axie Lute, portrait. . 210 

work of .210, 212, 271 

Mix, Irene Raine, work of. .244, 278 
Mt. Pleasant Alumnae Chapter, 

war work . 311 

work of . 184 

Mourning . 335 

Mu Chapter, charter members 73 

history of . 71 

home . 156 

honor ring members . 297 

liberty bonds . 328 

war work .329, 330, 332 

Murchison, Kathleen, work of 

. 244, 250 

N 

National chapter, powers of.. 200 

National Conventions, chrono¬ 


logical table . 211 

fund . 213 

1903 . 208 

group picture . 209 

social side . 212 

1904 . 213 

social side . 214 


1905 . 215 

group picture . 216 

social side . 217 

1907 . 218 

social side . 220 

1909 . 221 

social side . 223 

1911 . 223 

group picture . 225 

social side . 227 

1913 . 227 

group picture . 228 

social side . 231 

1915 . 232 

masquerade group .... 233 

social side . 236 

1918 . 237 

social side . 240 

1920 . 241 

group picture . 245 

social side . 244 

1922 . 246 

group picture . 251 

social side . 250 

National Council, powers of 202, 219 

National movement . 28 

National officers, terms of.... 344 

National Panhellenie Congress 

chronological table. 255 

convention action .213, 229 

creed . 265 

history of . 253 

Standards of Ethical Con¬ 
duct . 265 

Newman, Lucile Thornton, war 

work . 316 

work of .240, 244, 250 

New York Alumnae Chapter, 

work of . 176 

Nu Chapter, charter members. 75 

history of . 74 

honor ring members . 297 

liberty bonds . 328 

war work.329, 330, 331 

O 

Omaha Alumnae Chapter, work 

of . 185 

Omega Chapter, charter mem¬ 
bers . H5 

history of . 115 

honor ring members . 301 


Omicron Chapter, charter mem¬ 
bers . 83 

history of . 81 

home . 158 

















































































392 


Index 


honor ring members . 299 

liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work.331, 332 


P 

Panhellenic Creed . 264 

Panhellenic House, Akron, Ohio 184 
Patterson, Bertha Cleveland, 

work of.217, 219, 273 

Perkins, Frances, reconstruc¬ 
tion work . 327 

Phi Chapter, charter members 108 

history of . 105 

home . 161 

honor ring members . 299 

liberty bonds . 329 

war work . 331 


Phillips, Grace Spencer, work 

of .240, 278 

Pi Chapter, chapter hall. 87 

charter members . 88 

history of . 85 

honor ring members ...... 299 

liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work.329, 330 

Pierce, Margaret Curtis, work 

of. 214 

Pittsburgh Alumnae Chapter, 

war work . 311 

work of . 187 

Pledge, meetings . 206 

national requirements ..... 206 

pins .195, 196, 213 

Poland, Genevieve, war work.. 318 
Power, Mary A., work of.... . 


. 214, 217, 344 

Province president, duties of 204 
Province- vice-president, duties 

of . 204 

Psi Chapter, charter members 114 

history of . 113 

honor ring members . 301 

liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work.329, 330, 331 

Purcell, Hazel, war work. 318 


Q 

Quill, The . 231, 280 

R 

Rayne, Mary, life sketch. 357 

portrait . 359 

war work . 321 

work of.226, 231, 236, 275 

Recognition pin, description of 196 
Rho Chapter, charter members 92 

history of . 91 

honor ring members . 299 


liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work .329, 337 

Ripley, Elsie Waddingham, war 

work . 318 

Robinson, Winnafred Corwin, 

war work . 326 

work of . 250 

Rose, adoption of . 197 

Runge, Lulu, life sketch. 367 

portrait . 366 

work of .244, 250 

Ryan, Marion, life sketch. 384 

portrait . 384 

St. Louis Alumnae Chapter, 

work of . 188 

San Francisco Alumnae Chap¬ 
ter, Christmas bazaar. ... 85 

war work ....311, 312, 313, 332 

work of . 177 

Scholarship Fund, established 


.230, 241, 247 

history of . 290 

Seal, adoption of . 198 

Seattle Alumnae Chapter, war 

work .311, 312 

work of . 172 

Shepard, Bertha, work of.... 236 

Sigma Chapter, charter mem¬ 
bers . 94 

history of . 93 

home . 160 

honor ring members . 299 

liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work .329, 330 

Skinner, Evelyn Farrar, life 

sketch . 376 

portrait . 377 

Sleight, Esther, service pictures 315 

war work . 316 

Songs, national .249, 285 

customs . 284 

early writing of.282, 283 


Songbook, legislation affecting 


. 210, 217, 229 

publication of . 282 

sale of . 284 

Sorority Hand Book. 219 

Springfield Alumnae Chapter, 

war work .311, 312 

work of . 184 


Stamp, Katherine Keith, work 

of .223, 274 

State Associations, alumnae... 168 
Stevens, Myrtle Jones, life 

sketch . 365 

portrait . 365 

work of .244, 250 

















































































Index 


393 


Sweet, Lorena Grange, work of 
Syracuse Alumnae Chapter, war 

work . 

work of . 

T 

Tacoma Alumnae Chapter, work 

of . 

Tau Chapter, charter members 

history of . 

honor ring members . 

liberty bonds .328, 

war work . 

Taylor, Louie Strong, life 

sketch . . ... 

portrait . 

Theta Chapter, charter mem¬ 
bers . 

history of . 

home . 

honor ring members . 

liberty bonds .328, 

war work .330, 331, 

Treasurer, national duties of.. 
Tucker, Mildred, work of. . . . 
.214, 273, 

U 

Upsilon Chapter, charter mem¬ 
bers . 

history of . 

honor ring members . 

war work . 

y 

Van Camp, Maude Andrew, 
work of . 


Venable, Mary Kinkead, war 

work . 317 

Vice-president, national, duties 

of . 202 

Visitor, national, duties of 202, 229 

W 

Wall, Ella Lillian, portrait... 313 

war work . 314 

Wallis, Anna, banner. .197, 222, 226 

war wmrk.317, 320 

Whistle, selection of. 198 

Williamson, Bess, life sketch 359 

portrait . 360 

work of .236, 240 

Women’s Committee, Council 

of National Defense. .310, 322 
Wurdeman, Helen, work of 250, 321 

X 

Xi Chapter, banner committee 198 


charter members . 79 

history of . 78 

honor ring members . 297 

war work . 332 

Y 

Young, Dixie, work of . 250 

Z 

Zeta Chapter, charter members 50 

history of . 49 

home . 151 

honor ring members . 295 

liberty bonds .328, 329 

war work .329, 330 


217 

311 

187 

185 

98 

97 

299 

329 

331 

19 

19 

57 

56 

154 

295 

329 

332 

205 

344 

101 

100 

299 

330 

212 










































































' 


















































. 


, 































